Testing QED: The Other Game in Town

The measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment and its theoretical explanation in terms of perturbative quantum electrodynamics (QED) are always presented as the ‘high-precision test’ in (modern) quantum electrodynamics. This paper argues an explanation in terms of the classical Zitterbewegung or – preferably – the Dirac-Kerr-Newman electron model might be possible. Indeed, the author of the latter model (Burinskii, 2016) has updated it to incorporate the most recent theoretical developments – which include compatibility with the supersymmetric Higgs field theory and string theory based on the Landau-Ginzburg (LG) field model. However, as far as we can see, his model does reduce to the classical Zitterbewegung model in the classical limit (i.e. when assuming only general relativity and classical electromagnetism). As Dirac noted, a direct verification of these models is not possible because of the very high frequency of the oscillatory motion (the zbw charge moves at the speed of light) and the very small amplitude (the Compton radius). However, logic tells us that the form factor that comes out of the Dirac-Kerr-Newman model can easily be used in models that do not involve micro-motion at the speed of light. In other words, we should be able to indirectly verify whether these models make sense or not by inserting the form factor in models that involve relativistically slow motion of an electron around a nucleus (atomic orbitals) or – in this particular case – the motion of an electron in a Penning trap. Even if the results would only remotely explain the anomaly, we would still have achieved two very significant scientific breakthroughs. First, it would show that these seemingly irrelevant micro-models can be validated externally. More importantly, it would prove that an alternative (classical) explanation of the anomalous magnetic moment would be possible.