V o l u m e 34A, n u m b e r 3 PHYSICS
ON THE CLASSICAL SELF-ENERGY OF
A. B. D A T Z E F F
Chair of theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
Received 5 January 1971
On the basis of a definite hypothesis about the material car r i er of the electromagnetic field a modified,
free of divergences, Coulomb law, as well as an approximate value for the electron radius are obtained.
C l a s s i c a l p h y s i c s has left us the f a m o u s d i-
v e r g e n c e of the e l e c t r o n s e l f - e n e r g y U = e 2 / r ,
at r = 0. On the o t h e r hand d i v e r g e n c e s e x i s t in
quantum field t h e o r y and they a r e its b a s i c defect.
In the p r e s e n t p a p e r an a t t e m p t is made to r e -
m o v e the above m en t i o n e d d i v e r g e n c e in the
c l a s s i c a l c a s e as a f i r s t step in approaching the
c o r r e s p o n d e n t d i f f i c u l t i e s in the quantum field
t h e o r y . T h i s p a p e r is b a s e d on the s a m e p h y s i c a l
i d e a s which l e a d us to a new concept about quan-
t um m e c h a n i c s [1]. The fundamental hypothesis
t h e r e s t a t e d is that the field has a m a t e r i a l
c a r r i e r (subvac) with a d i s c r e t e s t r u c t u r e . Its
e x i s t e n c e is c o m p a t i b l e with s p e c i a l r e l a t i v i t y [2].
In the p r e s e n t c a s e we s t a r t f r o m the F o u r i e r
d e c o m p o s i t i o n of the Coulomb potential of the e l e c -
tron
1
U(r) = ~ 2
f ~e i k ~ r d3k " (1)
On one hand the function U(r) may be obtained as
a p a r t i c u l a r solution of the t e l e g r a p h y equation
(then k is a wave v ect o r ) and, on the o t h e r hand,
U(r) is a solution of the s t a t i o n a r y heat condition
equation, and the l a t t e r has a kinetic i n t e r p r e t a -
tion. T h i s analogy helps us to i n t e r p r e t k in (1)
a s wave v e c t o r of the subvac. Let the s u b v a c ' s
" a t o m s " , the p a r t i c l e s AS, have d i a m e t e r of
o r d e r of a and the m e a n m i n i m a l distance b e -
tween two of them be of the o r d e r of b (a and b
a r e constants).
T h i s m a k e s us i n t e g r a t e eq. (1) in k in finite
l i m i t s (ko, k'), i n s t e a d (0,¢o). Indeed, as in the
t h e o r y of c r y s t a l s we have ;tmin = 2 ~ / k ' = 2b.
On the o t h e r hand, substituting ;t = 2 ~ / k in eq. (1)
the a mp l i t u d e of the c o r r e s p o n d i n g wave will
b e c o m e 1/~. As an am p l it u d e with 1/;t < a has no
p h y s i c a l m e a n i n g then we m u s t have ;tmax =
= 2 y / k o ~ 1/a. T h e s e r e s u l t s show that
r e ( 0 , r m a x ) in the r e g i o n w e r e eq. (1) has p h y s i -
LETTERS 22 F e b r u a r y 1971
THE ELECTRON
cal meaning (ko r m a x ~ 1). In this way we c o m e
to a modified Coulomb law.' It may be w r i t t e n in
the f o r m s :
V = U(r) - D ( r , k o , k ' ) (2)
V =__2 (Si k ' r - Si kor) (3)
7T7,"
where:
2 7~
D = ~-r (2 + si k o r - si k ' r ) . (4)
The e x p r e s s i o n D in eq. (2) may be r e g a r d e d as
a p e r t u r b a t i o n . It will c a u s e a shift of the a t o m i c
e n e r g y l e v e l s . In the c a s e of o n e - e l e c t r o n a t o m s
we will c o n s i d e r the new law (2) or (3) to be
among the b a s i c contribution for the h y p er f i n e
s t r u c t u r e of the e n e r g y l e v e l s (its c o m p l e t e e f -
f e c t will be obtained a f t e r second quantization of
V). F o r the m o m e n t we shall t r e a t it as the only
r e a s o n f o r the Lamb shift, in o r d e r to d e t e r m i n e
a p p r o x i m a t e v a l u e s f o r the constants k o and k'
(or.a and b c o r r e s p o n d i n g l y ) .
F o r the n - t h l e v e l of a h y d r o g e n - l i k e atom we
have Wnn = fl~/n I 2 D dr. Using the f i r s t two
hydrogen wave functions (in a t o m i c units, Z is
the c h a r g e of nucleus), expanding the functions
six, six in s e r i e s of the p o w e r s of ko and 1 / k ' ,
taking into account the lowest o r d e r , we get
2Z(k 16Z4~
Wll ='~-\ o + 3k, 3 /
3k,3 / •
S i m i l a r r e s u l t s m ay be obtained f o r Wnn. N at u -
r a l l y t h e s e f o r m u l e s d i f f e r f r o m the c o r r e s p o n d i n g
e x p r e s s i o n s of Bethe [3].
To d e t e r m i n e ko and k' we use two a r b i t r a r y
e x p e r i m e n t a l v a h e s f o r W. It is known that
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Volume 34A, n u m b e r 3 PHYSICS LETTERS 22 F e b r u a r y 197]

W 2H2 = 1057 M H z , W 2He

2 = 14044 MHz [4,5]. we o b t a i n ( Z =]~ , 2 r 2 )

2 3-4 5 . 6 Z2 + 7 " 8 Z 3 :0
S u b s t i t u t i n g t h e s e v a l u e s in eq.(5) (in a t o m i c u n i t s ) 3!a + 5.-~ z -$ff.7 ~
we g e t :
N u m e r i c a l l y we c a l c u l a t e t h e l o w e s t r o o t Z o =
b o = 6 . 8 8 × 10 - 1 8 , k ' = 5.46 x 105 . (6) = 7.57 a n d f r o m h e r e

If we s u b s t i t u t e ko, k ' f r o m eq. (6) in W{tl (eq.(5)) R o =~o/k' ~ 2.62 × 10 - 1 4 c m .

( Z = 1), we get w H 1 = 2.53 × 10 -17 , w h i l e t h e
H
e x p e r i m e n t g i v e s W l l = 5.16 × 10 -17 [6]. A s we
stated earlier our values are so far approximate.
F r o m eq. (3) we g e t d i r e c t l y V ~ 2 k ' / ~ a s
r ~ 0, i.e. a f i n i t e s e l f - e n e r g y of t h e e l e c t r o n .
It i s c l e a r t h a t b e c a u s e of t h e d i s c r e t e s t r u c t u r e
of t h e s u b v a c , t h e d e r i v a t i v e s in r h a v e to b e
substituted by partial differences with step
A r >~ b. N e v e r t h e l e s s i n r e g i o n Z in w h i c h t h e
f u t u r e t h e o r y h a s t o i n t r o d u c e a s t r u c t u r e of t h e
electron, distances less than b may be also con-
s i d e r e d . T h e r e we s h a l l h a v e t h e u s u a l d e r i v a -
t i v e s of V.
F r o m eq. (3) we o b t a i n V" in Z . It i s w e l l
known from the Newton potential theory for a
spherical body with radius R and density p(r)
t h a t U(r) i s c o n t i n u o u s t o g e t h e r w i t h i t s f i r s t
derivative at r = R and the second derivative
c h a n g e s s i g n , w i t h U"(R) = 0 i f p ( R ) = 0. A s -
suming analogically that this holds also for the
p o t e n t i a l v t r ) , we m a y g e t f r o m t h e c o n d i t i o n
V"(R) = 0 an approximate low limit for the elec-
t r o n r a d i u s if we o b t a i n i t s f i r s t r o o t . In t h i s w a y ,
neglecting the terms with k o and taking into ac-
c o u n t t h e t e r m s u p t o r 9 in t h e e x p a n s i o n of V"
This approximate value, compared with the
" c l a s s i c a l " r a d i u s r o = 2.8 × 10 - 1 3 c m , s a t i s f i e s
u s o n l y i n t h e o r d e r of m a g n i t u d e .
F r o m (3) we o b t a i n A V = - 4rip(r), o r t h e
c h a r g e i s n o t in a p o i n t , b u t i s s p r e a d o v e r t h e
w h o l e s p a c e w i t h d e n s i t y p. O n e e a s i l y c a n c h e c k
t h a t p h a s p r o p e r t i e s s i m i l a r to t h e s e of t h e 5-
f u n c t i o n , a s p(0) ~ k ' , q u i c l y t e n d s to 0, w h e n r
i n c r e a s e s , a n d t h e t o t a l c h a r g e i s u n i t y in a s p h e r e
with radius r ~ 1/le o. (Of c o u r s e w h e n k o =
max
= o, k ' = ~ , we g e t V = U, p ( r ) = 5 ( r ) ) .
References
[1] A. B. Datzeff, M~canique quantique et r~alit~
physique, Acad. bulgare des Sciences (Sofia, 1969).
[2] A. B. Datzeff, Cahier de Physique, No. 115 (Mars
1960) p. 99-108.
[3] H. A. Bethe, Phys. Rev. 72 (1947) 339.
[4] W. E. Lamb and R. C. Retherford, Phys. Rev. 86
(1951) 1014.
[5] H. A. Bethe and E. E. Salpeter, Quantum Mechanics
of one and t w o - E l e c t r o n Atoms (Springer Verlag,
1957).
[6] G. H e r t z b e r g e r , Proe. Roy. Soc. 234 (1956) 516.

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