Hypothesis of path integral duality: Applications to QED

Abstract

We use the modi ed propagator for quantum eld based on a \principle of path integral duality" proposed earlier in a paper by Padmanabhan to investigate several results in QED. This procedure modi es the Feynman propagator by the introduction of a fundamental length scale. We use this modi ed propagator for the Dirac particles to evaluate the rst order radiative corrections in QED. We nd that the extra factor of the modi ed propagator acts like a regulator at the Planck scales thereby removing the divergences that otherwise appear in the conventional radiative correction calculations of QED. We nd that: (i) all the three renormalization factors Z1, Z2, and Z3 pick up nite corrections and (ii) the modi ed propagator breaks the gauge invariance at a very small level of O(10−45). The implications of this result to generation of the primordial seed magnetic elds are discussed.