Effects of the fermionic vacuum polarization in QED

Some effects of vacuum polarization in QED due to the presence of field sources are investigated. We focus on effects with no counter-part in Maxwell electrodynamics. The Uehling interaction energy between two stationary point-like charges is calculated exactly in terms of Meijer-G functions. Effects induced on a hydrogen atom by the vacuum polarization in the vicinity of a Dirac string are considered. We also calculate the interaction between two parallel Dirac strings and corrections to the energy levels of a quantum particle constrained to move on a ring circumventing a solenoid. (orig.)