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arXiv · 1806.10940

Axion-modified photon propagator, Coulomb potential and Lamb-shift

Selym Villalba-Chávez·Alina Golub·Carsten Müller
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Abstract

A consistent renormalization of a quantum theory of axion-electrodynamics requires terms beyond the minimal coupling of two photons to a neutral pseudoscalar field. This procedure is used to determine the self-energy operators of the electromagnetic and the axion fields with an accuracy of second-order in the axion-diphoton coupling. The resulting polarization tensor is utilized for establishing the axion-modified Coulomb potential of a static pointlike charge. In connection, the plausible distortion of the Lamb-shift in hydrogenlike atoms is established and the scopes for searching axionlike particles in high-precision atomic spectroscopy and in experiments of Cavendish-type are investigated. Particularly, we show that these hypothetical degrees of freedom are ruled out as plausible candidates for explaining the proton radius anomaly in muonic hydrogen. A certain loophole remains, though, which is linked to the nonrenormalizable nature of axion-electrodynamics.

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Selym Villalba-Chávez, Alina Golub, Carsten Müller. 2018-12-06. Axion-modified photon propagator, Coulomb potential and Lamb-shift. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.98.115008

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