  In quantum field theory, the splitting of the Hamiltonian into a strong and
an electromagnetic part cannot be performed in a unique manner. We propose a
convention for disentangling these two effects: one matches the parameters of
two theories -- with and without electromagnetic interactions -- at a given
scale mu_1, referred to as the matching scale. This procedure enables one to
analyze the separation of strong and electromagnetic contributions in a
transparent manner. We illustrate the method -- in the framework of the loop
expansion -- in a Yukawa model, as well as in the linear sigma model, where we
also investigate the corresponding low-energy effective theory.
