LAMB SHIFT SELF-ENERGY AS A FULLING-DAVIES-UNRUH EFFECT

The self-energy contribution to the Lamb Shift in hydrogen is expressed as a Fulling-Davies-Unruh (FDU) thermal kinetic energy where the bound electron is an Unruh-DeWitt point detector. The result for the 1S state of hydrogen is accurate to within 10-3 of the value obtained from the lowest order one loop self-energy contribution to the Lamb Shift, and suggests that it may be possible to interpret QED calculations as thermally equilibrated systems in an accelerated reference frame coupled to a Minkowski vacuum.