{"paper":{"title":"Minimum Virtual Proper Time and Finite Mass--Charge Matching in QED","license":"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","headline":"","cross_cats":["hep-th","math.MP"],"primary_cat":"math-ph","authors_text":"Mustafa Bakr","submitted_at":"2026-06-21T20:49:00Z","abstract_excerpt":"We formulate a finite-proper-time version of QED defined by a gauge-covariant generating functional in which every Schwinger proper-time integral has a physical lower endpoint $s_0=\\Lambda^{-2}$ that is not removed. Closed fermion loops are defined by the gauge-covariant heat-kernel determinant, and open fermion lines are obtained by functional differentiation of the same finite-proper-time open-line kernel. The Ward--Takahashi identity follows exactly from gauge covariance to all orders. The vacuum polarisation is finite and exactly transverse. The on-shell mass relation gives 0.482$$ MeV for"},"claims":{"count":0,"items":[],"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"source":{"id":"2606.22666","kind":"arxiv","version":1},"verdict":{"id":null,"model_set":{},"created_at":null,"strongest_claim":"","one_line_summary":"","pipeline_version":null,"weakest_assumption":"","pith_extraction_headline":""},"integrity":{"clean":true,"summary":{"advisory":0,"critical":0,"by_detector":{},"informational":0},"endpoint":"/pith/2606.22666/integrity.json","findings":[],"available":true,"detectors_run":[],"snapshot_sha256":"c28c3603d3b5d939e8dc4c7e95fa8dfce3d595e45f758748cecf8e644a296938"},"references":{"count":0,"sample":[],"resolved_work":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}