Derivation of the electric dipole–dipole interaction as an electric hyperfine interaction

The electric dipole–dipole interaction is derived by assuming that the electron and proton in hydrogen have intrinsic electric dipole moments that interact to give an electric hyperfine interaction. The electric field at the proton due to the electron’s presumed dipole moment then gives rise to a contact type term for l=0 and the normal dipole–dipole term for l≠0. When combined with our previous derivation of the magnetic hyperfine interaction [Am. J. Phys. 52, 36 (1984)], which used a similar approach, these derivations provide a unified treatment of the interaction of electric and magnetic dipoles. As an application of these results, the product of the electron’s and proton’s dipole moments is estimated to be less than 10−29 e2 cm2.