Inside the Hydrogen Atom

Abstract

We apply the non-linear Euler-Heisenberg theory to calculate the electric field inside the hydrogen atom. We will demonstrate that the electric field calculated in the Euler-Heisenberg theory can be much smaller than the corresponding field emerging from the Maxwellian theory. In the hydrogen atom this happens only at very small distances. This effect reduces the large electric field inside the hydrogen atom calculated from the electromagnetic form-factors via the Maxwell equations. The energy content of the field is below the pair production threshold.

Comments: Presented at the Jagiellonian Symposium on Fundamental and Applied Subatomic Physics, Cracow, Poland, June 2015; to be published in Acta Physica Polonica B (2016)