The Gauge-Invariant Mass Function
High Energy Physics - Theory
2026-04-07 v1
Abstract
In gauge theories, the mass of a field has been regarded as a purely on-shell concept: the pole mass is gauge-invariant, but the off-shell propagator has had no gauge-invariant definition of mass. We show that renormalization defines a gauge-invariant mass function at every virtuality, together with a gauge-invariant vertex. The virtual particle becomes as well defined as the on-shell one: the distinction is not dynamical but purely kinematic.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2604.04569,
title = {The Gauge-Invariant Mass Function},
author = {Kang-Sin Choi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.04569},
year = {2026}
}
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5 pages