Charged hadrons in local finite-volume QED+QCD with C⋆ boundary conditions

In order to calculate QED corrections to hadronic physical quantities by means of lattice simulations, a coherent description of electrically-charged states in finite volume is needed. In the usual periodic setup, Gauss’s law and large gauge transformations forbid the propagation of electrically-charged states. A possible solution to this problem, which does not violate the axioms of local quantum field theory, has been proposed by Wiese and Polley, and is based on the use of C⋆ boundary conditions. We present a thorough analysis of the properties and symmetries of QED in isolation and QED coupled to QCD, with C⋆ boundary conditions. In particular we learn that a certain class of electrically-charged states can be constructed in a fully consistent fashion without relying on gauge fixing and without peculiar complications. This class includes single particle states of most stable hadrons. We also calculate finite-volume corrections to the mass of stable charged particles and show that these are much smaller than in non-local formulations of QED.