Abstract
IN spite of its well-known inconsistencies, Dirac's theory of the positron enables one to calculate some physical processes in an unambiguous way; for example, pair creation by photons or by charged particles. Another consequence of this theory, which results from it unambiguously, is the coherent scattering of light by electrostatic fields. It is easily shown that in the latter problem no divergencies occur. The calculation of the polarisability of the vacuum or of scattering of light by light, however, leads to divergent series. To avoid this, Dirac and Heisenberg1 suggested a convention which allows these infinite expressions to be subtracted.
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References
P. A. M. Dirac, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc., 30, 150 (1934). W. Heisenberg, Z. Phys., 90, 209 (1934).
H. Euler and B. Kockel, Naturwiss., 23, 246 (1935).
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KEMMER, N., WEISSKOPF, V. Deviations from the Maxwell Equations resulting from the Theory of the Positron. Nature 137, 659 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137659a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137659a0
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