Long-range potentials and electromagnetic polarizabilities

The long-range spin and velocity independent forces of electromagnetic origin which act between any two systems are studied for those cases in which no forces of this type exist to order e 2 . It is shown that they are uniquely determined by the charge, magnetic moment, and polarizabilities of both systems, not only to the dominant order r − n , but also to the next one r −( n +1) . These potentials provide the link between Compton scattering polarizabilities (response to real photons) and classically defined polarizabilities (response to static electromagnetic field). The two definitions are shown to be equivalent for neutral spinless systems; the problems arising for a neutral particle wi…