Abstract
Using a previously formulated theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED) based on self-energy, we give a general method for computing the Lamb shift and related Casimir-Polder energies for a quantum system in the vicinity of perfectly conducting boundaries. Our results are exact and easily extendable to a full covariant relativistic form. As a particular example we apply the method to an atom near an infinite conducting plane, and we recover the standard QED results (which are known only in the dipole approximation) in a simple and straightforward manner. This is accomplished in the context of the new theory which is not second quantized and contains no vacuum fluctuations.
- Received 31 December 1986
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.36.2550
©1987 American Physical Society