Abstract
We assume that the unperturbed operators A₀ are known. Then, the fact that the scattering operators S and the unperturbed operators A₀ are pairwise permutable provides some important information about the structure of the scattering operators. Using this information and the ideas from the theory of generalized wave operators, we present a new approach to the divergence problems in quantum electrodynamics. We show that the so called infrared divergences appeared because the deviations of the initial and final waves from the free waves were not taken into account.