Abstract
We use the behavior of the photon-photon scattering for photon energies less than the electron mass, to examine the implications of treating the Euler-Heisenberg Lagrangian as an effective field theory. Specifically, we determine the behavior of the scattering amplitude predicted by including oneloop corrections to the Euler-Heisenberg effective Lagrangian together with the counterterms required by renormalizability. This behavior is compared with the energy dependence obtained by expanding the exact QED photon-photon scattering amplitude. If the introduction of counterterms in the effective field theory is restricted to those determined by renormalizability, the dependences of the two expansions differ.
- Received 18 September 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.57.2443
©1998 American Physical Society