The technique of inverse Mellin transform for processes occurring in a background magnetic field

Abstract

We develop the technique of inverse Mellin transform for processes occurring in a background magnetic field. We show by analyticity that the energy (momentum) derivatives of a field theory amplitude at the zero energy (momentum) is equal to the Mellin transform of the absorptive part of the amplitude. By inverting the transform, the absorptive part of the amplitude can be easily calculated. We apply this technique to calculate the photon polarization function in a background magnetic field.