ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS OF LOOSELY-BOUND COMPOSITE SYSTEMS

Contrary to popular assumption, the interaction of a composite system with an external electromagnetic field is not equal to the sum of the individual Foldy-Wouthyusen interactions of the constituents if the constituents have spin. We give the correct interaction, and note that it is consistent with the Drell-Hearn-Gerasimov sum rule and the low-energy theorem for Compton scattering. We also discuss the validity of additivity of the individual Dirac interactions, and the corrections to this approximation, with particular reference to the atomic Zeeman effect, which is of importance in the fine-structure and Lamb-shift measurements. © 1968 The American Physical Society.