Problems with the \(\zeta\)-function method (Q1196075)

The \(\zeta\)-function method for evaluating effective actions is applied to an operator containing a potential localized on two parallel planes. The motivation is to point out that the \(\zeta\)-method may lead to divergent volume factor, independent of the physical parameters, if it is not properly regularized. To demonstrate the trouble with the \(\zeta\)- method, the authors consider the operator \[ -(\partial^ 2_ 4+ \partial^ 2_ 1+ \partial^ 2_ 2+ \partial^ 2_ 3)+m^ 2- 2a\{\delta(x_ 3+{\textstyle {d\over 2}})+(x_ 3-{\textstyle {d\over 2}})\}. \] This is not translation invariant which inhibits the understanding of divergent terms. The paper suggests to adopt a suitable regularization scheme to obtain meaningful physical results.