Abstract
Davies and Seaton (1969) generalized the radiation damping theory of Wigner and Weisskopf to the case of an optical continuum. Their techniques suffice to solve the problem of overlapping resonances, met in dielectronic recombination. The result justifies the 'stationary' theory developed by Shore (1967) and by Trefftz (1967) though it is not identical with the former result. The discrepancy is discussed.