Quantum Electrodynamics of ˘Cerenkov Radiation at Finite Temperature

Author: Manoukian E.B.   Charuchittapan D.  

Publisher: Springer Publishing Company

ISSN: 0020-7748

Source: International Journal of Theoretical Physics, Vol.39, Iss.9, 2000-09, pp. : 2197-2206

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Abstract

An exact, to order α, study of ˘Cerenkov radiation in QED is carried out at finite temperatures T ≠ 0 in isotropic homogeneous media for the first time. By avoiding the method of combining denominators of Feynman propagators in parametric form, which has led to approximations in the past due to the complexity of the resulting integrals, we use instead a complex integration method and automatically evaluate the h^2ω^2/E^2contribution to the quantum power spectrum and settle the ambiguity associated with this term which has been known to exist at T = 0. We show that complex integration over a so-called pinching singularity actually simplifies the problem tremendously over the usual method of combining the denominators of the propagators. In particular, the imaginary part of the electron self-energy satisfies the correct underlying boundary condition and no contact term is needed in its evaluation. QED, unlike its classical counterpart, introduces automatically a cutoff for higher frequencies, emphasizing the importance of the quantum treatment.