Zero point energies in light cone field theory

Abstract

In this paper, we study the role of zero point energies in light front quantized field theories using a simple scalar field model with quartic coupling. In the equal time formalism, the zero point energies are renormalized by normal ordering with respect to some vacuum state, which is varied to determine the true, interacting vacuum. On the light front, we shall see that this procedure acquires an unexpected subtlety due to the equivalence of the ultraviolet (k ⁺→∞) and infrared (k ⁺→0) limits of the light front momentum. In order for the divergent zero point contributions toP ⁺ andP ⁻ to cancel, we find that the product of the infrared and ultraviolet cutoffs must be a finite constant whose value is determined by the coupling constants of the theory. As an application, we determine the vacuum structure of the theory in two dimensions as a function of the quartic coupling. Finally, we discuss the implications of our result for the discretized versions of light front quantization.