Beyond Poincar\'{e} Stresses: A Modern Quantum Field Theory Take on Hydrogen's Electromagnetic Mass

Abstract

We revisit the longstanding electromagnetic mass problem from a modern quantum field theory perspective. Focusing on a system of two widely separated hydrogen atoms, one in an excited $nS$ state and the other in the ground $1S$ state, we isolate the electromagnetic contribution to the electron's total linear momentum by comparing the full energy-momentum tensor with the predictions of a point-like bound state model. Our analysis reveals that the leading perturbative correction introduces a factor $4/3$, which, along with subsequent corrections, indicates that the effective electromagnetic mass deviates from the conventional relation $E/c^2$. This discrepancy is attributed to the intrinsic nonlocality of the electromagnetic field, rather than to additional compensating mechanisms such as Poincar\'e stresses. We further contrast our quantum field theory results with the highly accurate predictions of the Schr\"odinger equation, which, despite neglecting higher-order terms, achieves an average error on the order of $10^{-5}\%$. Attempts to improve this accuracy via perturbative inclusion of the self-interaction of the electron's wave function instead increase the error, prompting a re-examination of the underlying perturbative assumptions. Our findings suggest that a non-perturbative treatment of the tree-level action may be required to fully capture the dynamics of bound states in quantum field theory.