Theory of fermion exchange in massive quantum electrodynamics at high energy. I

We consider the high-energy behavior of Compton scattering near the backward direction and of pair annihilation into two photons in massive quantum electrodynamics. We study the limit where s, the center-of-mass energy squared, becomes large and t, the square of the momentum transfer, is fixed and spacelike. In each order of perturbation theory we calculate the leading terms in the s→∞ expansion, and then these leading terms are summed. In the positive-signature channel this leads to a Regge pole. In the negative-signature channel the amplitude is dominated by a pole when -t is sufficiently small. However, as -t increases the pole moves to the left and eventually the amplitude is dominated by the fixed Mandelstam cut. In this paper we present the results of our calculations, summarize the most important features of the calculations, and discuss the physics of the result. The details of the calculations are presented in the 5 succeeding papers.