Field theory reformulated without self-energy parts: the dressing operator

Abstract

The reformulation of field theory for avoiding self-energy parts in the dynamical evolution has been applied successfully in the framework of the Lee model [Ann. Phys. 311 (2004) 314], enabling a kinetic extension of the description. The basic ingredient is the recognition of these self-energy parts [Trends Stat. Phys. 3 (2000) 115]. The original reversible description is embedded in the new one and appears now as a restricted class of initial conditions [Progr. Theor. Phys. 109 (2003) 881]. This program is realized here in the reduced formalism for a scalar field, interacting with a two-level atom, beyond the usual rotating wave approximation. The kinetic evolution operator, previously surmised [Physica A 171 (1991) 159], is here derived from first principles, justifying the usual practice in optics where the common use of the so-called pole approximation [Atoms in Electromagnetic Fields, 1994, 119] should no longer be viewed as an approximation but as an alternative description in the appropriate formalism. That model illustrates how some dressing of the atomic levels (and vertices), through an appropriate operator, finds its place naturally into the new formalism since the bare and dressed ground states do no longer coincide. Moreover, finite velocity for field propagation is now possible in all cases, without the presence of precursors for multiple detections.