1997/07/03 by G. Plunien, Plunien, G., T. Beier +5
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/9707008
23 pages, LaTeX (RevTeX), 5 eps-figures
arxiv created 1997/07/03 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
We present a calculation scheme for the two-loop vacuum polarization correction of order α2 to the Lamb shift of hydrogen-like high-Z atoms. The interaction with the external Coulomb field is taken into account to all orders in (Zα). By means of a modified potential approach the problem is reduced to the evaluation of effective one-loop vacuum polarization potentials. An expression for the energy shift is deduced within the framework of partial wave decomposition performing appropriate subtractions. Exact results for the two-loop vacuum polarization contribution to the Lamb shift of K- and L-shell electron states in hydrogen-like Lead and Uranium are presented.