Environmental effects on radiative lifetimes and mass renormalization, according to stochastic electrodynamics

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Abstract
The environmental effects on the mass renormalization and on the rate of radiative transitions, produced by the presence of conducting objects that alter the electromagnetic-field structure, are studied from the point of view of stochastic electrodynamics. The mass correction is shown to be a tensor that depends on both position and direction of motion. A fluctuation-dissipation theorem is obtained, which leads to the independence of quantum states from environmental changes; only the radiative corrections are affected by the surroundings. The results obtained are discussed in the light of recent experiments and of earlier quantum theoretical calculations.