- #1
Ali Lavasani
- 54
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The Uehling potential due to vacuum polarization by virtual electron-positron pairs is said to be the dominant contribution — 205.0073 meV — to the Lamb shift between the 2P1/22P1/2 and 2S1/22S1/2 states of muonic hydrogen. In the Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_shift), it is mentioned that the lamb shift is the difference in energy between two energy levels 2S1/2 and 2P1/2 of the hydrogen atom. Is what it says true, and the lamb shift also occurs in the regular (not muonic) hydrogen atom?
The Wikipedia page says that "the fluctuation in the electric and magnetic fields associated with the QED vacuum perturbs the electric potential due to the atomic nucleus. This perturbation causes a fluctuation in the position of the electron, which explains the energy shift". How is the change in the position of electrons related to an energy level shift? Is this concept the same as the Uehling potential? I ask this because as far as I know, the Uehling potential is effective only within a Compton wavelength of the particle producing the electric field. So how is it producing such a great force at a distance way larger than the Compton wavelength of the nucleus, that can dramatically deviate the electrons and cause an energy level shift?
The Wikipedia page says that "the fluctuation in the electric and magnetic fields associated with the QED vacuum perturbs the electric potential due to the atomic nucleus. This perturbation causes a fluctuation in the position of the electron, which explains the energy shift". How is the change in the position of electrons related to an energy level shift? Is this concept the same as the Uehling potential? I ask this because as far as I know, the Uehling potential is effective only within a Compton wavelength of the particle producing the electric field. So how is it producing such a great force at a distance way larger than the Compton wavelength of the nucleus, that can dramatically deviate the electrons and cause an energy level shift?