Resurgence in the scalar quantum electrodynamics Euler–Heisenberg Lagrangian

Abstract

Abstract We explore the ideas of resurgence and Padé–Borel resummation in the Euler–Heisenberg Lagrangian of scalar quantum electrodynamics, which has remained largely unexamined in these contexts. We thereby extend the related seminal works in spinor quantum electrodynamics, while contrasting the similarities and differences in the two cases. We investigate in detail the efficacy of resurgent extrapolations starting from just a finite number of terms in the weak-field expansions of the 1-loop and 2-loop scalar quantum electrodynamics Euler–Heisenberg Lagrangian. While we re-derive some of the well-known 1-loop and 2-loop contributions in representations suitable for Padé–Borel analyses, other contributions have been derived for the first time. For instance, we find a closed analytic form for the one-particle reducible contribution at 2-loop, which until recently was thought to be zero. It is pointed out that there could be an interesting interplay between the one-particle irreducible and one-particle reducible terms in the strong-field limit. The 1-loop scalar electrodynamics contribution may be effectively mapped into two copies of the spinor quantum electrodynamics, and the particle reducible contribution may be mapped to the 1-loop contribution. It is suggested that these mappings cannot be trivially used to map the corresponding resurgent structures. The singularity structures in the Padé–Borel transforms at 1-loop and 2-loop are examined in some detail. Analytic continuation to the electric field case and the generation of an imaginary part is also studied. We compare the Padé–Borel reconstructions to closed analytic forms or to numerically computed values in the full theory.