Physical Interpretation of Radiative Corrections: Electron g -2, Lamb Shift, and the D-term

• Author / Creator

  Reza, Syed Navid

• Gravitational interaction of particles is understood in terms of energy-momentum tensor (EMT) which gives information regarding the fundamental properties of a particle like mass
  and spin. When the matrix element of the energy-momentum tensor is written in terms of EMT form factors, we get an additional fundamental property, the D-term. The D-term is
  related to the spatial components of the EMT and refers to pressure, shear force distribution, and how strong forces inside the nucleon balance to form a bound state. However, the proper
  interpretation of the D-term is still being disputed. The D-term started gaining a lot of attention recently and experiments are ongoing in JLab and are planned in the Electron-Ion Collider in Brookhaven to measure the D-term through the deeply-virtual Compton scattering process.
  In this thesis, we will present an intuitive explanation of radiative corrections in quantum electrodynamics with examples of electron g-2 and Lamb shift. We will determine the D-term for a bound system like hydrogen and calculate the leading order and next-to-leading order logarithmic correction to the D-term of hydrogen atom. The goal is to verify the claim of [1] that the next-to-leading order logarithmic correction to the D-term of hydrogen follows the same physics as the Lamb shift. As a main result of this thesis, using our discussion of the radiative corrections, we will show that although the D-term has a logarithmically enhanced term like the Lamb shift, the physics is quite different from the Lamb shift.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • D-term
  • Electron g-2
  • Lamb shift

• Graduation date

  Fall 2023

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-wnkk-xv15

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.