Field theoretic perspectives of the Wigner function formulation of the chiral magnetic effect

We assess the applicability of the Wigner function formulation in its present form to the chiral magnetic effect and note some issues regarding the conservation and the consistency of the electric current in the presence of an inhomogeneous and time-dependent axial chemical potential. The problems are rooted in the ultraviolet divergence of the underlying field theory associated with the axial anomaly and can be fixed with the Pauli-Villars regularization of the Wigner function. The chiral magnetic current with a nonconstant axial chemical potential is calculated with the regularized Wigner function and the phenomenological implications are discussed.