Abstract
A theoretical justification for the infinite subtractions, which have to be made in the renormalization of the matrix, is given along the lines suggested by Gupta and developed by Takeda. It is shown that this is equivalent to working with the renormalized field variables of Dyson, and that the method deals very simply with overlapping divergences and the "wave function" renormalization associated with external lines. It also gives directly Ward's identities and brings out their essential dependence on gauge invariance. The method is applied to free and bound electrons in electrodynamics and all renormalizable meson theories.
In the later sections the new method is related to the original method of Dyson; the Bethe-Salpeter equation is renormalized and closed forms are derived for the renormalization constants.
- Received 7 October 1953
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.94.185
©1954 American Physical Society