Energy levels of multiscale bound states from QED energy-momentum trace

Authors

• Michael I. Eides, University of KentuckyFollow
• Vladimir A. Yerokhin, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear PhysicsFollow

Abstract

Energy levels of quantum electrodynamics (QED) bound states, which depend on a number of independent mass parameters, can be calculated as matrix elements of the QED energy-momentum tensor trace. As an example of such system we consider muonic hydrogen. The leading one-loop corrections to its energy levels depend on the electron and muon masses. These corrections are calculated as matrix elements of the energy-momentum tensor trace. Respective one-loop trace diagrams are different from the standard Lamb shift diagrams. We explain analytically and diagrammatically why two different sets of diagrams lead to the same results. Similar relationships should also hold beyond the one-loop approximation.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Notes/Citation Information

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1103/8mx9-6583

Funding Information

Work of M. E. was supported by the NSF grant PHY-2510100.

Repository Citation

Eides, Michael I. and Yerokhin, Vladimir A., "Energy levels of multiscale bound states from QED energy-momentum trace" (2026). Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications. 764.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/physastron_facpub/764