Electron electromagnetic vertex form factors
ID: electron-electromagnetic-vertex-form-factors
For external Electrons on shell, factor out signed electric charge in the parity-preserving interaction vertex:The are Dirac spinors; are gamma matrices. With on-shell renormalization scheme normalization , the Gordon identity gives and .[ref]
QED Vertex Correction (Vadim Kaplunovsky course notes). Eqs. (3), (36)–(38)
This explains a subtlety: the Dirac equation already predicts a spin magnetic dipole moment with . Rewriting its Dirac electromagnetic current with the Gordon identity produces a spin-dependent term even before any loop order correction. measures the additional response after that baseline is included. The limit is taken after extracting its coefficient; setting in the interaction vertex at the outset would hide it. This electromagnetic anomalous magnetic moment is not a failure of gauge invariance of the kind called a quantum anomaly.
Charge normalization and the additional magnetic response
. Original schematic of the electron electromagnetic vertex form factors. The photon line denotes a weak external probe, not necessarily a real emitted photon. The lower bars use the chosen fine-structure constant : their vertical scales differ so the small remains visible. The Dirac equation baseline is , not zero magnetic dipole moment; the comparison is theoretical, not measured data. Details. New to topics? Read the docs here!
