RADIATIVE CORRECTION TO THE ELECTRON CHARGE-DENSITY IN THE HYDROGEN-ATOM

The radiative correction to the electron charge-density distribution deltarho(r) in the hydrogen atom due to the self-interaction and vacuum polarization is calculated in the leading order of perturbation theory. For large distances r approximately 1/(malpha) this correction is small, whereas for small r approximately 1/m, it is comparable to the relativistic corrections coming from the Dirac wave function.