Self-field quantum electrodynamics

Asim Orham Barut was a prolific theoretical physicist known for fundamental contributions in a variety of areas. He was a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder until his early death in 1994.

In his last decade, Barut and coworkers worked out an alternative approach to quantum electrodynamics. “Self-field QED” is conceptually much simpler than standard QED, while giving numerical results which match experiment, and finite closed-form expressions for results which standard QED derives as renormalized perturbation expansions.

Electrodynamics generally consists of a description of how matter gives rise to an electromagnetic field (Maxwell's equations), and how the electromagnetic field affects the motion of matter (Dirac's equation in relativistic quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's equation in its non-relativistic approximation, Lorentz's equation in classical mechanics, and so on).

Barut's point of departure was to see this “feedback loop” as a coupled system of equations, and solve directly for the matter variables, eliminating the local electromagnetic variables entirely. The result is a theory of matter interacting directly with matter, including itself.

Standard QED attributes many physical effects to matter interacting with the vacuum. Self-field QED views the vacuum as empty, and derives all of these effects from matter interacting with itself. There is no need, and no place, for vacuum fluctuations, zero-point energy, or any independent electromagnetic field, quantized or not.

This page collects many of the papers by Barut and coworkers on this subject, following the Appendix in this review chapter. The chapter may be a good place to start, or [19] or [26]. The most concise summary might be [32].

References on self-field quantum electrodynamics

from A. O. Barut, “Brief History and Recent Developments in Electron Theory and Quantum Electrodynamics” in The Electron, D. Hestenes and A. Weingartshofer eds. (1991).
  1. Nonperturbative QED: The Lamb Shift, A. O. Barut and J. Kraus, Found. of Physics, 13, 189 (1983).
  2. QED based on self-energy: Lamb shift and spontaneous emission without field quantization, A. O.Barut and J.F. van Huele, Phys. Rev. A, 32, 3887 (1985)
  3. QED based on self-energy versus quantization of fields: Illustration by a simple model. A. O. Barut, Phys. Rev. A, 34, 3502 (1986)
  4. An exactly soluble relativistic quantum two-fermion problem. A. O. Barut and N. Ünal, J. Math. Phys., 27, 3055 (1986)
  5. A new approach to bound state QED. I. Theory, Physica Scripta, 142A, 457 (1987). II. Spectra of positronium, muonium and hydrogen. A. O. Barut and N.Ünal, Physica, 142A, 488 (1987)
  6. An approach to finite non-perturbative QED. A. O. Barut in “Proc. 2nd Intern. Symposium on Foundations of Quantum Mech.”, Phys. Soc. of Japan, 1986, p. 323.
  7. On the treatment of Möller and Breit-potentials and the covariant two-body equation for positronium and muonium, A. O. Barut, Physica Scripta, 36, 493 (1987)
  8. On the covariance of two-fermion equation for QED, A. O. Barut, in “Constraint theory and Relativistic dynamics”, (L. Lusanna et al, eds.) World Scientific, 1987; p. 122
  9. Formulation of nonperturbative QED as a nonlinear first quantized classical field theory, A. O. Barut in “Differential Geometric Methods in Theoretical Physics”, (H. Doebner et al, eds.), World Scientific 1987; p. 51
  10. QED based on self-energy: Spontaneous emission in cavities, A. O. Barut and J. P. Dowling, Phys. Rev. A, 36, 649 (1987)
  11. QED based on self-energy, without second quantization: The Lamb shift and long-range Casimir-Polder van der Waals forces near boundaries, A. O. Barut and J. P. Dowling, Phys. Rev. A, 36, 2550 (1987)
  12. QED based on self-energy, A. O. Barut, Physica Scripta, T21, 18 (1988)
  13. Relativistic theory of spontaneous emission, A. O. Barut and Y. Salamin, Phys. Rev. A, 37, 2284 (1988)
  14. QED based on self-fields, without second quantization: A nonrelativistic calculation of g - 2, A. O. Barut, J. P. Dowling and J.F. van Huele, Phys. Rev. A, 38, 4405 (1988)
  15. QED based on self-fields, without second quantization: Apparatus dependent contributions to g - 2, A. O. Barut and J. P. Dowling, Phys. Rev. A, 38, 2796 (1989)
  16. QED based on self-fields: a relativistic calculation of g - 2, A. O. Barut and J. P. Dowling, Zeits. f. Naturf, 44A, 1051 (1989)
  17. Path integral formulation of QED from classical particle trajectories, A. O. Barut and I.H. Duru, Phys. Reports, 172, 1-32 (1989)
  18. Problème relativiste á deux corps en électyrodynamique quantique, Heelv. Phys. Acta, 62, 436 (1989)
  19. Self-field QED: The two-level atom, A. O. Barut and J. P. Dowling, Phys. Rev. A, 41, 2284 (1990)
  20. QED based on self-fields: On the origin of thermal radiation detected by an accelerating observer, A. O. Barut and J. P. Dowling, Phys. Rev. A, 41, 2227 (1990)
  21. The Einstein A-coefficient of spontaneous emission: a relativistic calculation in the Heisenberg representation. A. O. Barut and Y. Salamin, Z. f. Physik D, 21, 1 (1991)
  22. QED based on self-energy: The relativistic 2S1/2 → 1S1/2 + 1γ decay rates of hydrogen-like atoms, A. O. Barut and Y. Salamin, Phys. Rev. A, 43, 2524 (1991)
  23. QED—The unfinished business, A. O. Barut in “Proc. III. Conf. Math. Physics” (World Scientific, 1990) (F. Hussain, ed.) p. 493
  24. Regularized analytic evaluation of vacuum polarization in a Coulomb field, A. O. Barut and Ünal, Phys. Rev. D, 41, 3822 (1990)
  25. Foundations of Self-field Quantum Electrodynamics, A. O. Barut in New Frontiers in Quantum Electrodynamics and Quantum Optics, (ed. A. O. Barut), Plenum Press, NY 1990
  26. QED Based on Self-fields: Cavity effects, J. P. Dowling, ibid
  27. Fundamental Symmetries and Quantum Electrodynamics, A. O. Barut in Symmetry in Science III, (ed. B. Gruber), Plenum Press, NY 1989, p. 3-13
  28. QED in Non-Simply Connected Regions, A. O. Barut and I. H. Duru, Quantum Optics
  29. Contribution of the individual discrete levels to the Lamb shift in hydrogen atoms, B. Blaive, A. O. Barut, and Roger Boudet, J. Phys. B. At. Mol. Opt. Phys., 24, 3121 (1991)
  30. Interpretation of self-field QED, A. O. Barut and J. P. Dowling Phys. Rev. A, 43, 4060 (1991)
  31. Is Second Quantization Necessary? in Quantum Theory and the Structure of Space and Time, Vol. 6 (edited by L. Castell and C. F. vm Weizsäcker), Hanser Verlag, Munchen 1986; p. 83-90.

Later self-field papers

  1. Nonlinear Nonlocal Classical Field Theory of Quantum Phenomena, A. O. Barut, Int. J. Engng Sci., 30, 1469 (1992)
  2. Retarded radiation field and spontaneous emission for the hydrogen atom as an emitting antenna, A. O. Barut, B. Blaive, Phys. Rev. A, 45, 2810 (1992)
  3. Relativistic theory of the Lamb shift in self-field quantum electrodynamics, A. O. Barut, J. Kraus, Y. Salamin, and N. Ünal, Phys. Rev. A, 45, 7740 (1992)
  4. Spontaneous Emission in Cavities: How Much More Classical Can You Get?, J. P. Dowling, Found. of Physics, 23, 895 (1993)
  5. Bremsstrahlung in Self-Field QED, Y. Salamin, Found. of Physics, 23, 907 (1993)
  6. Relativistic two-body system in (1+1)-dimensional QED. 1. On the circle S1, A. O. Barut and F. M. Saradzhev, Annals Phys., 235, 220 (1994)
  7. Self-field quantum electrodynamics without infinities. A new calculation of vacuum polarization, I. Acikgoz, A. O. Barut, J. Kraus, N. Ünal, Physics Letters A, 198, 126 (1995)
  8. Renormalization of the Self Field QED, N. Ünal, in Electron Theory and Quantum Electrodynamics: 100 Years Later, (ed. J. P. Dowling), NATO ASI Series, vol 358. Springer, Boston, MA (1997)
  9. Vacuum Polarization in Self-Field Quantum Electrodynamics, I. Acikgoz, N. Ünal, Found. of Physics, 28, 815 (1998)
  10. Light-front two-dimensional QED: Self-field approach, F. M.Saradzhev, Phys. Rev. D, 58, 125008 (1998)
  11. The Classical Lamb Shift: Why Jackson is Wrong!, J. P. Dowling, Found. of Physics, 28, 855 (1998)

Related work

Barut sketched a plausible theory in which all massive particles are made only of electrons and neutrinos, bound magnetically. Such close-range interactions cannot be analyzed with standard perturbative QED, which is a motivation for non-perturbative approaches such as self-field QED.

  1. Stable particles as building blocks of matter, A. O. Barut, Surveys in High Energy Physics, 1, 113 (1980).
  2. Unification Based on Electromagnetism: A Simple Composite Model of Particles, A. O. Barut, Ann. Physik Leipzig, 43, 83 (1986).
  3. A Nonstandard Model, W. T. Grandy, Found. of Physics, 23, 439 (1993).