Detector Resolution and Observable Infrared Memory in QED

Abstract

Infrared divergences in QED cancel in inclusive observables through the Bloch--Nordsieck and KLN mechanisms. However, this cancellation removes only the unphysical infrared regulator. The detector resolution scale $\omega_{\max}$, which specifies the maximum energy of unresolved soft photons, remains in the observable cross section. We emphasize that this surviving scale has a natural interpretation as a coarse-graining scale in the reduced density matrix of the hard sector. Soft photons below $\omega_{\max}$ are not observed and are effectively traced over. The corresponding soft-sector overlap therefore becomes resolution dependent, $D_{ij}=D_{ij}(\omega_{\max})$. Observable infrared memory is consequently defined not only by the asymptotic soft sector itself, but also by the resolution scale separating observed and unobserved infrared degrees of freedom. This provides a bridge between the traditional infrared-safe cross-section formulation and the modern interpretation of soft photons as carriers of infrared memory and quantum information.