MULTIPLICATIVE RENORMALIZABILITY AND SELF-CONSISTENT TREATMENTS OF THE SCHWINGER-DYSON EQUATIONS

Many approximations to the Schwinger-Dyson equations place constraints on the renormalization constants of a theory. The requirement that the solutions to the equations be multiplicatively renormalizable also places constraints on these constants. Demanding that these two sets of constraints be compatible is an important test of the self-consistency of the approximations made. We illustrate this idea by considering the equation for the fermion propagator in massless quenched QED, checking the consistency of various approximations.