Results in finite temperature quantum electrodynamics

First, three quantities of physical interest are calculated. The first two quantities are the self energy of the electron at order α and the self mass of the electron at order α2 due to its interaction with a thermal bath of photons. The third quantity of physical interest is the thermal contribution to the self mass of the axion. Second, some formal developments are presented. First among these is the proof of an extension to the familiar optical theorem to cover processes taking place at finite temperature. Then an example of the application of the theorem is given for a simple field theory involving two types of scalar particles. The example illustrates that the relationship between the forward scattering amplitude and the total cross section is more complex at finite temperature than at zero temperature. Third, a method for calculating the wave function renormalization constant at finite temperature for an electron in a thermal bath of photons is presented. This method is compared with methods invented by other authors