Abstract
Relativistic corrections to a previously established generalized sum rule are obtained using the Foldy-Wouthysen transformation. This sum rule derived previously by Wang [Phys. Rev. A 60, 262 (1999)] for a nonrelativistic system contains both the well-known Thomas-Reiche-Kuhn and Bethe sum rules, for which relativistic corrections have been obtained in the literature. Our results for the generalized formula will be applied to recover several results obtained previously in the literature, as well as to another sum rule whose relativistic corrections will be obtained.