Quote:
Originally Posted by xelasnave
Schwinger and Feynmann attempted to explain Lamb shift using non relativistic calculations and the concept of fictional mass which they eventually conceded WAS WRONG.
But they were wrong throw everything out before and after.
Sorry Steven but going on the past my reply may be all you get
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Alex,
Quantum mechanics was developed in the 1920s and provided an excellent model AND EXPLANATION for the energy levels of the hydrogen atom.
Prior to QM the energy levels were described by ad hoc empirical formulae.
Experiments had shown however there was a slight deviation in the observed hydrogen spectrum to what QM predicted.
This difference is known as the Lamb shift.
The motivation behind QED is the effect of electric fields that cause perturbations or deviations from QM.
QM wasn't thrown out because it is a first order approximation to QED. QED doesn't work without QM as much as GR can't work without Newtonian gravity.
Similarly anything after the first appearance of QED is a refinement and improvement.
The mistakes made by Schwinger and Feynmann in 1947 in explaining the Lamb shift were ironed out by 1950 by which time Tomonaga had come to the party as well.
QED is rightly known as the Jewel of Physics and is the most accurate physics theory known.
What I find quite funny in this thread is how the ill informed and ignorant comments are being made with the aid of a computer which is the very technological outcome of QED.
https://www.bell-labs.com/our-people...56-transistor/