Abstract
We develop a regularised arbitrary-gauge formulation of nonrelativistic quantum electrodynamics and use it to compare Coulomb and multipolar descriptions with a Lorentzian form factor. We analyse the effect of regularisation in perturbation theory, including alternative partitions of the Hamiltonian into free and interaction parts, and the limits of the electric dipole approximation. The regularised multipolar gauge exhibits a cut-off-dependent trade-off between the strength of individual interaction terms and the localisation of material subsystems that suppresses direct inter-atomic interactions. We discuss the implications of the framework for short-range phenomena, including Dicke criticality.