Abstract:
We have studied the possible existence of quasibound states of an electron-positron pair due to their magnetic interaction in the framework of the equations suggested by Barut et al. [5]. We derive radial equations for all angular quantum numbers of the e--e+ system and show, in detail, that Barut's equations doe not give a consistent, physically satisfactory description of positronium, except in the non-relativistic approximation (up to terms of order m α2). Moreover, we do not find evidence that the effective potentials occurring in the radial equations support magnetic resonances of the e--e+ system at short particle distances ("micropositronium"). © 1988 Springer-Verlag.
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