One-loop electron mass and QED trace anomaly

Abstract

Electron mass is considered as a matrix element of the energy-momentum trace in the rest frame. The one-loop diagrams for this matrix element are different from the textbook diagrams for the electron mass renormalization. We clarify connection between the two sets of diagrams and explain analytically and diagrammatically why the results of both calculations coincide.

Comments: 11 pages, 4 figures