UV/IR scale dependence in a four-derivative scalar field theory

Bob Holdom

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arXiv · 2609.04347

UV/IR scale dependence in a four-derivative scalar field theory

Bob Holdom

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Abstract

An analog of the standard renormalization procedure may be useful for four-derivative theories, and we illustrate it with the four-derivative scalar field theory in the $m\to0$ limit. The renormalization scale $\mu$ appears in momentum-dependent logarithms associated with both UV and IR divergences. At one loop, the on-shell scattering amplitude satisfies an analog Callan--Symanzik equation involving the analog beta functions. These functions are determined from the combined UV and IR pole parts of the 1PI functions.

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Bob Holdom. 2026-09-03. UV/IR scale dependence in a four-derivative scalar field theory. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.04347

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