Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
It has recently been pointed out by Heitler(1) that the well-known discrepancy between the theoretical expression and the experimental results for the cross-section of scattering of charged mesons by nuclear particles can be removed by a proper consideration of the effect of radiation damping in the quantum theory. The radiation damping in quantum theory was first considered in complete detail for free electrons by Waller(2). A rigorous deduction of the integral equation set up by Waller was given by Heitler on the basis of a method developed by Góra. An alternative rigorous derivation of the integral equation has also been given by Wilson(3). Exact solutions of the integral equation for the simple scattering of mesons by nuclear particles have been found by Heitler in the non-relativistic approximation. An exact solution has not so far been given for physical problems in which the integral equations are complicated, but Wilson has given a general approximate formula for the scattering cross-section, which should be valid for all problems.