Two-photon exchange in a dispersion approach

We calculate the two-photon exchange amplitude for the elastic electron-proton scattering in the framework of dispersion relations. The imaginary part of the amplitude is determined by unitarity. Since in the unitarity relation intermediate states are on shell, off-shell form factors are not needed for the calculation. The real part is then evaluated using analytical properties of the amplitude. The expression for the elastic contribution to the amplitude, obtained in our approach, differs from the results of traditional calculations with on-shell form factors. Nevertheless, numerically the difference is minor for ${Q}^{2}$ up to 6 GeV${}^{2}$.