Analytic Results for the Effective Action

Motivated by the seminal work of Schwinger, we obtain explicit closed-form expressions for the one-loop effective action in a constant electromagnetic field. We discuss both massive and massless charged scalars and spinors in two, three and four dimensions. Both strong-field and weak-field limits are calculable. The latter limit results in an asymptotic expansion whose first term reproduces the Euler-Heinsenberg effective Lagrangian. We use the prescription of zeta-function renormalization, and indicate its relationship to Schwinger’s renormalized effective action.