Abstract
Using a formulation of quantum electrodynamics that is not second quantized, but rather based on self-fields, we compute the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron to first order in the fine-structure constant α. In the nonrelativistic (NR) case and in the dipole approximation, our result is ≡(g-2)/2=(4Λ/3m)(α/2π), where Λ is a positive photon energy cutoff and m the electron mass. A reasonable choice of cutoff, Λ/m=(3/4, yields the correct sign and magnitude for g-2 namely, =+α/2π. In our formulation the sign of is correctly positive, independent of cutoff, and the demand that =+α/2π implies a unique value for Λ. This is in contradistinction to previous NR calculations of that employ electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations instead of self-fields; in the vacuum fluctuation case the sign of is cutoff dependent and the equation =α/2π does not have a unique solution in Λ.
- Received 18 March 1988
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.38.4405
©1988 American Physical Society