• Corpus ID: 54673654

Atomic radiative corrections without QED: role of the zero-point field

@article{Cetto2013AtomicRC,
  title={Atomic radiative corrections without QED: role of the zero-point field},
  author={Ana Mar{\'i}a Cetto and Luis de la Pe{\~n}a and Andrea Vald'es-Hern'andez},
  journal={Revista Mexicana De Fisica},
  year={2013},
  volume={59},
  pages={433-443}
}

• A. M. Cetto, L. D. L. Peña, A. Vald'es-Hern'andez
• Published 26 January 2013
• Physics
• Revista Mexicana De Fisica

odinger equation, is obtained as a result of reducing the original phase-space description of the entire particle- ZPF system to the configuration space of the particle in the time-asymptotic limit, in which an energy balance is reached between radiation reaction and the ZPF and higher-order effects of the radiative terms can be neglected. This paper is concerned with the main effects on the atom of the previously neglected radiative terms, calculated to lowest order in fi = e 2 =~c. After briefly reviewing some consequences of the energy-balance condition and the role of the ZPF in fixing the atomic stationary states, an analysis of the dynamics in the absence of energy balance is made, leading to formulas for the radiative lifetimes of excited states. Further, a calculation of the contribution of the radiative terms to the average energy gives the nonrelativistic formula for the Lamb shift. Finally, a modification of the background field through the presence of an external field or material objects is shown to produce in general a change in the radiative lifetimes and a shift of the atomic energy levels. The nonrelativistic, spinless, electric dipole approximation is made throughout the paper. The correct results (i.e. those predicted by non-relativistic quantum electrodynamics, QED and confirmed by experiment) are obtained in all cases. With these results we demonstrate that the theory of stochastic electrodynamics in its present form [1-3] takes us beyond quantum mechanics, to the realm of QED. Though most of the results for the radiative corrections derived in the present work are well known, their connection with the condition of energy balance between the ZPF and radiation reaction is not. An interesting point is that in each case explicit formulas leading to the effects discussed are obtained, along with a clear physical picture of their meaning.