Derivative expansion of the effective action for quantum electrodynamics in 2+1 and 3+1 dimensions
- Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, 252143 Kiev (Ukraine)
- Physics Department, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0011 (United States)
The derivative expansion of the one-loop effective action in QED{sub 3} and QED{sub 4} (quantum electrodynamics) is considered. The first term in such an expansion is the effective action for a constant electromagnetic field. An explicit expression for the next term containing two derivatives of the field strength F{sub {mu}{nu}}, but exact in the magnitude of the field strength, is obtained. The general results for both fermion and scalar electrodynamics are presented. The cases of pure electric and pure magnetic external fields are considered in detail. The Feynman technique for the perturbative expansion of the one-loop effective action in the number of derivatives is developed. {copyright} {ital 1999 American Institute of Physics.}
- OSTI ID:
- 688003
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Mathematical Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Mathematical Physics Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 40; ISSN JMAPAQ; ISSN 0022-2488
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Derivative expansion at small mass for the spinor effective action
Derivative expansion of the effective action and vacuum instability for QED in 2+1 dimensions