New articles published in PRD

Good news at the lights out of 2021! We have published two articles in the journal Physical Review D, both with the participation of the student Huan Souza, who is doing his master's under my supervision. In the paper entitled "Gravitational Corrections to two-loop beta function in quantum electrodynamics" we use the framework of effective field theory to couple Einstein's gravity to quantum electrodynamics (QED) and determine the gravitational corrections to the two-loop beta function of the electric charge in arbitrary electrodynamics (Lorentz-like) and arbitrary (de Donder like) gravitational gauges. Our results indicate that gravitational corrections do not alter the running behavior of the electric charge; on the contrary, we observe that it gives a positive contribution to the beta function, making the electric charge grow even faster. This work was carried out in collaboration with researchers L. Beviláqua (UFRN), M. Dias and C. Senise (UNIFESP), A. J. da Silva (USP) and H. Souza (UFPA).

In the second one, entitled "Universality of the gauge coupling constant in the Einstein-QED system", we discuss the universality of the renormalization of the gauge coupling constant in the quantum electrodynamics coupled to the Einstein's gravity in the framework of effective field theory in an arbitrary gauge, discussing how we can define the renormalization of the electric charge in a way  independent of process. We observe that the renormalization of the three-point functions with different particles receive different contributions from the gravitational sector. Despite that, the universality of the gauge coupling constants is guaranteed by the Ward identity that makes the renormalized electric charge receive no contribution from the gravitational sector at one-loop order. This work outlines the collaboration of researchers L. Beviláqua (UFRN) and H. Souza (UFPA).

To learn more, visit the article links on the PRD server or on the ArXiv preprints site:

1. Gravitational corrections for the two-loop beta function in quantum electrodynamics (PRD, ArXiv);

2. Universality of the gauge coupling constant in the Einstein-QED system (PRD, ArXiv).