In this paper we use Dirac's relativity quantum mechanics to derive the well-known Kramers-Heisenberg dispersion formula for an atom with one electron. The treatment is not limited to the case of a central field, but is quite general. An expression is also obtained for the dipole moment to which is due the incoherent scattering. The formulae obtained are similar to those obtained by O. Klein for the case of a central field. We find in this way an explicit expression for f, the number of dispersion electrons for any line of the optical spectrum (being a measure of the intensity of the line), in terms of the solutions of the four wave equations of Dirac's theory. It is further shown that the sum of the number of dispersion electrons for any state of the atom is not exactly unity, but differs from it by an amount of the order of 10−4. The result Σf = 1 has been shown by London to hold exactly for the simple wave equation as originally given by Schrödinger. It is here shown that the exact relativity treatment has a very small effect.
In this paper we use Dirac's relativity quantum mechanics to derive the well-known Kramers-Heisenberg dispersion formula for an atom with one electron. The treatment is not limited to the case of a central field, but is quite general. An expression is also obtained for the dipole moment to which is due the incoherent scattering. The formulae obtained are similar to those obtained by O. Klein for the case of a central field. We find in this way an explicit expression for f, the number of dispersion electrons for any line of the optical spectrum (being a measure of the intensity of the line), in terms of the solutions of the four wave equations of Dirac's theory. It is further shown that the sum of the number of dispersion electrons for any state of the atom is not exactly unity, but differs from it by an amount of the order of 10−4. The result Σf = 1 has been shown by London to hold exactly for the simple wave equation as originally given by Schrödinger. It is here shown that the exact relativity treatment has a very small effect.
A generalization of Dirac's transformation of the off-resonance single-photon scattering amplitude that leads to the Kramers-Heisenberg dispersion formula is described. The amplitude is first calculated to order e2 in perturbation theory with the minimal-coupling interaction Hamiltonian as perturbing energy, and is then transformed so that the effects of multipole transition moments of all orders and types (electric, magnetic, and diamagnetic) readily become manifest. No appeal is made to any multipolar expansions, however, as exact integral expressions are used for the summed series. It is shown that the same dispersion formula is obtained by using the multipolar Hamiltonian partitioned in the usual way, and this despite the fact that the unperturbed Hamiltonians are different in the two calculations.
It has been shown by Schr\"odinger and O. Klein that the Kramers-Heisenberg formulas for dispersion and incoherent scattering can both be obtained by an extension of Schr\"odinger's method for treating dispersion, the terms in the Hamiltonian involving squares of the potentials being neglected. The resulting formulas agree with those of Dirac. They are, however, inconvenient for calculations, as they contain summations with respect to all energy levels combining with the pair of levels under consideration, and thus imply complicated integrations when a continuous spectrum is present. This paper treats the problem of a hydrogen-like atom, acted on by light the wave-length of which is large compared to the size of the atom and the frequency of which is not too near a resonance frequency, and develops a method which obviates the necessity of integrating over the continuous range. It is an extension of the method used by one of us in treating the dispersion by atomic hydrogen. It is applied in detail to the first two levels of H. Formulas are derived for the intensities of the Smekal-Raman lines with a shift corresponding to the first absorption line.
Abstract 1. In a recent paper Dirac* has brilliantly removed the defects before existing in the mechanics of the electron, and has shown how the phenomena usually called the “ spinning electron ” fit into place in the complete theory. He applies to he problem the method of q-numbers and, using non-commutative algebra, exhibits the properties of a free electron, and of an electron in a central field of electric force. In a second paper † he also discusses the rules of combination and the Zeeman effect. There are probably readers who will share the present writer’s feeling that the methods of non-commutative algebra are harder to follow, and certainly much more difficult to invent, than are operations of types long familiar to analysis. Wherever it is possible to do so, it is surely better to present the theory in a mathematical form that dates from the time of Laplace and Legendre, if only because the details of the calculus have been so much more thoroughly explored. So the object of the present work is to take Dirac’s system and treat it by the ordinary methods of wave calculus. The chief point of interest is perhaps the solution of the problem of the central field, which can be carried out exactly and leads to Sommerfeld’s original formula for the hydrogen levels. But it is also of some interest to exhibit the relationship of the new theory to the previous equations which were derived empirically by the present writer.* It appears that those equations were an approximation to the new ones, derived by an approximate elimination of two of Dirac’s four wave functions. We shall also review a few other points connected with the free electron, the emission of radiation from an atom and its magnetic moment, and shall outline a discussion of the Zeeman effect.
Annalen der Physik , Ser. 5, 9: 338–46 (1931). Received 25 February 1931. The Dirac theory of radiation gives a satisfactory account of the absorption, emission, and dispersion of radiation by atoms. Beyond this, quantum electrodynamics also provides a satisfactory treatment of interference phenomena. The results of the theory in most cases agree with what is expected from the correspondence principle, but the calculations which lead to this objective have hitherto been rather complicated, and the simplest consequences of classical radiation theory can only be derived along the circuitous route through a quite nontransparent Schrödinger equation in an infinite-dimensional space. Below we shall describe a method for treating radiation problems which connects, much more closely than the previous ones, the intuitive conceptions of classical theory with those of wave mechanics and which therefore, in most cases, and without detours, yields the result expected in terms of the correspondence principle. In this method, the starting point shall not be the Hamiltonian function or the corresponding Schrödinger equation in configuration space but rather the equations of motion, i.e. the Maxwell and Dirac wave equations. These differential equations are integrated explicitly, after the value of the wave functions ( E, H , and ψ σ ) at time t = 0 are regarded as given; here it should be noted that the wave functions at time t = 0 are noncommuting quantities. This noncommutability of the initial values of E, H , and ψ σ does not disturb the integration, however, as long as the interaction between matter and radiation is assumed to be small and only linear terms in this interaction are considered.
Abstract 1. The procedure usually adopted in the Quantum Theory for the estimation of the intensities of a spectrum line includes two stages : (1) the electric moment, p, of the distribution responsible for the spectrum line is calculated by means of Schrodinger’s integrals or some equivalent method ; (2) the rate of loss of energy due to radiation is calculated by the classical formula due to H. Hertz, viz., 2p2/3c3, just as if the distribution were concentrated in a dipole of precisely the same moment p. The first stage involves no difficulties beyond those met with in the evaluation of the integrals or matrices with which we are concerned, the only principles needed being those of the particular quantum theory adopted. But the second stage is open to grave objections and can only be justified on the ground of necessity owing to the absence of any completely satisfactory quantum theory of the electromagnetic field. Sometimes an appeal is made to Bohr’s Correspondence Principle, but this itself involves a somewhat hazardous extrapolation from infinitely large down to small quantum numbers and cannot take the place of a rigorous calculation. A logically consistent method is possible, based on Maxwell’s theory as represented by his electromagnetic equations and their solutions in terms of the classical retarded potential integrals. It may be objected that we do not know how far Maxwell’s equations can be applied to the interiors of atoms, in particular to distributions like those of Schrodinger, but precisely the same objection applies to the customary use of the classical expression for the radiation from an oscillating dipole. Moreover, the attempts made by Heisenberg and Pauli, Dirac and others to formulate a quantum theory of the electromagnetic field have all been based on the assumption that such a theory must be consistent with Maxwell’s equations. The direct application of the methods of classical electromagnetic theory to Schrodinger’s distributions can be justified at least as a rigorous attempt to determine their electromagnetic field and the radiation from them, and the validity of the procedure will have to be judged by the agreement, or otherwise, of the results obtained with experience. In this way we avoid the assumption that a spatially extended distribution can be treated as if its electric moment were concentrated in a point; in fact, the results obtained in this paper for the more important spectrum line series show definitely that the assumption is false, because it leads to results in many cases quite inconsistent with a rigorous application of Maxwell’s theory.
This paper re-examines the key aspects of Dirac's derivation of his relativistic equation for the electron in order advance our understanding of the nature of quantum field theory. Dirac's derivation, the paper argues, follows the key principles behind Heisenberg's discovery of quantum mechanics, which, the paper also argues, transformed the nature of both theoretical and experimental physics vis-a-vis classical physics and relativity. However, the limit theory (a crucial consideration for both Dirac and Heisenberg) in the case of Dirac's theory was quantum mechanics, specifically, Schrodinger's equation, while in the case of quantum mechanics, in Heisenberg's version, the limit theory was classical mechanics. Dirac had to find a new equation, Dirac's equation, along with a new type of quantum variables, while Heisenberg, to find new theory, was able to use the equations of classical physics, applied to different, quantum-mechanical variables. In this respect, Dirac's task was more similar to that of Schrodinger in his work on his version of quantum mechanics. Dirac's equation reflects a more complex character of quantum electrodynamics or quantum field theory in general and of the corresponding (high-energy) experimental quantum physics vis-a-vis that of quantum mechanics and the (low-energy) experimental quantum physics. The final section examines this greater complexity and its implications for fundamental physics.