Eur. Phys. J. C (2003) 31: 165-175
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s2003-01337-7
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s2003-01337-7
theoretical physics
Considerations concerning the contributionsof fundamental particles to the vacuum energy density
Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, NY 10003, New York, USA
* e-mail: go226@nyu.edu
The covariant regularization of the contributions of fundamental particles to the vacuum energy density is implemented in the Pauli-Villars, dimensional regularization, and Feynman regulator frameworks. Rules of correspondence between dimensional regularization and cutoff calculations are discussed. Invoking the scale invariance of free field theories in the massless limit, as well as consistency with the rules of correspondence, it is argued that quartic divergences are absent in the case of free fields, while it is shown that they arise when interactions are present.
© Springer-Verlag, 2003
