Re-normalizing Feynman Diagram Amplitudes in a Non-arbitrary Way

Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is perhaps the most precise and successful theory in all of physics. There is, as I've mentioned in previous posts, a peculiar characteristic within the theory's math: infinities keep cropping up. In this post we deal with the infinities that appear in the math when calculating Feynman-diagram amplitudes.

If you read the previous post, you recall Paul Dirac having a problem with re-normalization. He said, " I must say that I am very dissatisfied with the situation, because this so-called 'good theory' does involve neglecting infinities which appear in its equations, neglecting them in an arbitrary way."

Let's see if we can re-normalize Feynman-diagram amplitudes in a non-arbitrary way. First, we define the variables:

Next, let's do a typical textbook calculation and reveal how the infinity arises. Below is the Feynman diagram we will be working with. A and A' are particle and anti-particle, respectively:

The diagram progresses from bottom to top. There are two vertices. The particle (A) and anti-particle (A'), with momenta p1 and p2, meet at the first vertex and annihilate each other. A boson (B) is released. It has an internal momentum q. At the top vertex it creates a new particle (A) and anti-particle (A') with momenta of p3 and p4.

To find the amplitude M, we need a dimensionless coupling constant (-ig) for each vertex. This coupling constant contains the fine structure constant (see equation 1) There are two vertices, so we square the coupling constant (see equation 2):

To conserve momentum we use the Dirac delta function (see 3 and 4). Momenta p1 and p2 are external momenta heading in, and q is the internal momentum heading out (see 3). At 4, q is incoming momentum and p3, p4 are outgoing momenta.

For boson B's internal line we need a propagator, a factor that represents the transfer of propagation of momentum from one particle to another:

We integrate over q using the following normalized measure:

We put all the pieces together to get equation 7. We begin solving the integral at equation 8:

We can solve the integral more easily if we set q equal to p3 and p4. Using some algebraic manipulation, we arrive at equation 11:

Note that at equation 11 we have a red portion and a blue portion. To get the solution at equation 12, we simply throw away the blue portion! We can just imagine Dirac rolling over in his grave. Further, equation 12 is supposed to be the probability of the event illustrated in the Feynman diagram. But probabilities are dimensionless numbers. This probability has dimensions of 1/momentum squared!

Experiments may show that equation 12 is correct within a tiny margin of error, but can the math that leads to it be more sloppy and arbitrary? Sure it can. But let's try to make it less sloppy and arbitrary. We can start by changing the normalized measure:

Next, we can recognize that momentum is conserved, so the Dirac delta functions will equal 1:

As a result, a lot of the stuff we arbitrarily threw away is now properly cancelled. We end up with equation 19:

If we evaluate the integral, we get an infinity (see 20). The good news is we can convert that infinity to the expression at 21. If we introduce a gamma probability amplitude factor, the infinity becomes a finite number at 21b.

We make a substitution at equation 22:

If we throw away the blue section at equation 22, it makes logical sense when you treat that section as all the probable outcomes that could have happened but didn't happen when the observation was made. The observer saw the expression outlined in red--the eigenvalue. That eigenvalue is paired with what is supposed to be its probability amplitude. Notice if we multiply this amplitude by the gammas in the summation, we get the probability amplitudes for all the eigenvalues that add up to infinity. As a result, the right side of equation 22 is no longer infinite. If we take the sum of squared probability amplitudes multiplied by their respective eigenvalues we get the expectation value.

The expectation value is not what we want, however. We want the actual observed value outlined in red, so we ignore "what could have happened but wasn't observed" outlined in blue. This approach is logical instead of arbitrary.

Now, let's see what we can do to fix the dimension problem. At 23 we pull out a momentum unit and set it to one. This leads us to a new solution at 24:

At 24 we end up with an eigenvalue multiplied by a probability amplitude--and the dimensions come out right. The eigenvalue fits nicely into Einstein's energy equation:

So we have a solution for four-dimensional spacetime. For three-dimensional space, we get equation 27:

At 27, the eigenvalue is just q, the internal momentum of the Feynman diagram. The probability of q is the same as the Feynman-diagram event. We obtain the probability by squaring the phi amplitude:

In conclusion, if you encounter an infinity in QED math, it is OK to discard it. It's not really arbitrary to do so, because you are only interested in what you observed. You are not interested in an infinite number of probable events you didn't observe in your experiment.