Perturbation theory of two particle bound states in QED for particles of spin ��� 1

Abstract

In this paper we present a generalization of Salpeter's approach to solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation for the hydrogen atom to the case of any two particles of spin ≤ 1. In order to preserve the same general form of Salpeter's scheme the Kemmer-Duffin equations are used to describe the spin 1 or spin 0 particleso The general method involves separating out the single scalar photon exchange as the zero order problem, whose approximate solution is the ordinary Schroedinger equation solution, and developing a perturbation theory to calculate the effects of the other irreducible diagrams of the Bethe-Salpeter equation, As an example of how to work with the formalism developed here we work out the order ɑm/M corrections to the hyperfine structure of atomic deuterium under the assumption of the minimal electromagnetic interaction.