QED — Quantum Electrodynamics

ATOMIC / NUCLEAR SCALE · 10⁻¹⁰ … 10⁻¹⁴ m

The most precisely tested theory in physics — and the scale where nuclei live. QED's precision hides that its renormalization procedure is effective rather than constructive: it computes superbly but does not build. The ICT program treats QED as the boundary layer between the constructive quark-scale work and the classical world.

Governing Equation — QED Lagrangian

ℒ = ψ̄(iγ^μD_μ − m)ψ − ¼F_μνF^μν

Current Problems at the QED Scale

(really rough working list — draft, to be refined)

Muon g−2 — residual tension between measurement and prediction
Landau pole — QED self-destructs at extreme energies
Proton radius puzzle — the nucleus is a QCD object measured with QED tools
Renormalization is effective, not constructive — no geometric picture of the electron

Scope: ICT scope note: nuclei belong here. The proton itself is a QCD-scale object — see QCD Central.

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