ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Shifting Perspectives on the Self-Energy Problem. The Contribution from the Early Years of Quantum Gravity (1930-1950)

• In Event: Shifting Perspectives on Histories of Gravity and Mass 3

English Abstract

Soon after the birth of quantum field theory, Léon Rosenfeld showed that the infinities plaguing the newborn theory also arose in the context of quantum gravity. The first addressed problem was the computation of the self-energy using a perturbative approach. According to Bryce DeWitt, a path can be traced from Léon Rosenfeld’s first attempt to calculate the “gravitational effects of light” to DeWitt’s PhD thesis, where he began developing his background-field approach. Our talk explores how work on gravity has reflected and driven changes in modern physics by analyzing the evolution of the self-energy concept from Rosenfeld’s paper (1930) to DeWitt’s dissertation (1930). We argue that a shift in focus occurred, paving the way to the modern treatment of perturbative quantum gravity. The path we analyze, hinted at by Dean Rickles in his book on quantum gravity, also comprises the names of Jacques Solomon, Arthur March, and Kalervo Laurikainen. While the first two tried to improve Rosenfeld’s original attempt, in his PhD thesis, Laurikainen used novel mathematical tools that differed from Schwinger’s techniques employed by DeWitt.

Author

• ALESSIO ROCCI, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and International Solvay Institutes