The relativistic ``no pair'' model of quantum electrodynamics uses the Dirac operator, D(A), for the electron dynamics together with the usual self-energy of the quantized ultraviolet cutoff electromagnetic field A -- in the Coulomb gauge. There are no positrons because the electron wave functions are constrained to lie in the positive spectral subspace of some Dirac operator, D, but the model is defined for any number, N, of electrons, and hence describes a true many-body system. In addition to the electrons there are a number, K, of fixed nuclei with charges \leq Z. If the fields are not quantized but are classical, it was shown earlier that such a model is always unstable (the ground state energy E=-\infty) if one uses the customary D(0) to define the electron space, but is stable (E > - const.(N+K)) if one uses D(A) itself (provided the fine structure constant αand Z are not too large). This result is extended to quantized fields here, and stability is proved for α=1/137 and Z \leq 42. This formulation of QED is somewhat unusual because it means that the electron Hilbert space is inextricably linked to the photon Fock space. But such a linkage appears to better describe the real world of photons and electrons.
We show that relativistic quantum electrodynamics in the Coulomb gauge satisfies the following bound, which establishes stability: let $H(Λ,V)$ denote the Hamiltonian of $QED_{1+3}$ on the three-dimensional torus of volume $V$ and with ultraviolet cutoff $Λ$. Then there exists a constant $0<μ(Λ,V)<\infty$ (the vacuum energy renormalization) such that the renormalized Hamiltonian is positive: $H_{ren}(Λ,V) \equiv H_{Λ,V}+μ_{Λ, V}\cdot \mathbb{1} \ge 0 $.
In previous paper derivations of the Green function have been given for 5D off-shell electrodynamics in the framework of the manifestly covariant relativistic dynamics of Stueckelberg (with invariant evolution parameter $τ$). In this paper, we reconcile these derivations resulting in different explicit forms, and relate our results to the conventional fundamental solutions of linear 5D wave equations published in the mathematical literature. We give physical arguments for the choice of the Green function retarded in the fifth variable $τ$.
The classical relativistic least action principle is revisited from the vacuum field theory approach. New physically motivated versions of relativistic Lorentz type forces are derived, a new relativistic hadronic string model is proposed and analyzed in detail.
A physical subspace and physical Hilbert space associated with asymptotic fields of nonrelativistic quantum electrodynamics are constructed through the Gupta-Bleuler procedure. Asymptotic completeness is shown and a physical Hamiltonian is defined on the physical Hilbert space.
Starting from a formal Hamiltonian as found in the physics literature -- omitting photons -- we define a renormalized Hamiltonian through charge and mass renormalization. We show that the restriction to the one-electron subspace is well-defined. Our construction is non-perturbative and does not use a cut-off. The Hamiltonian is relevant for the description of the Lamb shift in muonic atoms.
The excited states of a charged particle interacting with the quantized electromagnetic field and an external potential all decay, but such a particle should have a true ground state--one that minimizes the energy and satisfies the Schrödinger equation. We prove quite generally that this state exists for {\it all values} of the fine-structure constant and ultraviolet cutoff. We also show the same thing for a many-particle system under physically natural conditions.
The work is devoted to studying some new classical electrodynamics models of interacting charged point particles and the aspects of the quantization via the Dirac procedure related to them. Based on the vacuum field theory no-geometry approach developed in [6,7,9], the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian reformulations of some alternative classical electrodynamics models are devised. The Dirac-type quantization procedure for the considered alternative electrodynamics models, based on the obtained canonical Hamiltonian formulations, is developed.
We prove the limiting absorption principle for the standard model of the non-relativistic quantum electrodynamics (QED) and for the Nelson model describing interactions of electrons with phonons. To this end we use the spectral renormalization group technique on the continuous spectrum in conjunction with the Mourre theory.
We consider an Hamiltonian with ultraviolet and infrared cutoffs, describing the interaction of relativistic electrons and positrons in the Coulomb potential with photons in Coulomb gauge. The interaction includes both interaction of the current density with transversal photons and the Coulomb interaction of charge density with itself. We prove that the Hamiltonian is self-adjoint and has a ground state for sufficiently small coupling constants.
A survey of the stability of matter problem is given, starting with the stability of the hydrogen atom. The stablity of bulk matter with Coulomb potentials, with or without relativistic mechanics, and with or without magnetic fields is discussed. The final section discusses the stability of matter in a relativistic model with the Dirac operator as kinetic energy (but restricted to the positive subspace) and with the quantized electromagnetic field in the Coulomb gauge.
We consider a (semi-)relativistic spin-1/2 particle interacting with quantized radiation. The Hamiltonian has the form $\hat{H}_c^V:=\{c^2[(\mathbf{p}+{\bf A})^2+{\bf σ}\cdot{\bf B}]+(mc^2)^2\}^{1/2}-mc^2+V+H_f$. Assuming that the potential $|V|$ is bounded with respect to the momentum $|\mathbf{p}|$, we show that $\hat{H}_c^V$ converges in norm-resolvent sense to the usual Pauli-Fierz operator when $c$, the speed of light, tends to $\infty$.
In this note we provide details of the proofs of the main results of our paper [19] to the standard model of non-relativistic quantum electrodynamics in which particles are minimally coupled to the quantized electromagnetic field at energies below the ionization threshold. Recall that in [19] we proved several lower bounds on the growth of the distance of the escaping photons/phonons to the particle system. Using some of these results, we proved asymptotic completeness (for Rayleigh scattering) on the states for which the expectation of the photon/phonon number is bounded uniformly in time. Ho…
A translation invariant Hamiltonian $H$ in the nonrelativistic quantum electrodynamics is studied. This Hamiltonian is decomposed with respect to the total momentum $\tot$: $$H=\int_{\BR} ^\oplus \fri(P) dP,$$ where the self-adjoint fiber Hamiltonian $\fri(P)$ is defined for arbitrary values of coupling constants. It is discussed a relationship between rotation invariance of $H(P)$ and polarization vectors, and functional integral representations of $n$ point Euclidean Green functions of $H(P)$ is given. From these, some applications concerning with degeneracy of ground states, ground state en…
We study a mean-field relativistic model which is able to describe both the behavior of finitely many spin-1/2 particles like electrons and of the Dirac sea which is self-consistently polarized in the presence of the real particles. The model is derived from the QED Hamiltonian in Coulomb gauge neglecting the photon field. All our results are non-perturbative and mathematically rigorous.
Self-Dual Electrodynamics via the Characteristic Method: Relativistic and Carrollian Perspectives
Ningbo University（宁波大学）；Peking University（北京大学）；Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)（马克斯·普朗克引力物理研究所（爱因斯坦研究所））；Southeast University（东南大学）；King’s College London（伦敦国王学院）
We confirm the stability of Podolsky's generalized electrodynamics by constructing a series of two-parametric bounded conserved quantities which includes the canonical energy-momentum tensors. In addition, we evaluate the transition-amplitude of this higher derivative system in BV antifield formalism and obtain the desirable generalized radiation gauge condition by choosing appropriate gauge-fixing fermion. Within the framework of Lagrangian BRST cohomology, we present the constructions of consistent interactions in Podolsky's model and when concentrating on the antighost number zero part of t…
Spatial localization of the electrons of an atom or molecule is studied in models of non-relativistic matter coupled to quantized radiation. We give two definitions of the ionization threshold. One in terms of spectral data of cluster Hamiltonians, and one in terms of minimal energies of non-localized states. We show that these two definitions agree, and that the electrons described by a state with energy below the ionization threshold are localized in a small neighborhood of the nuclei with a probability that approaches 1 exponentially fast with increasing radius of the neighborhood. The latt…
We consider two different models of a hydrogenic atom in a quantized electromagnetic field that treat the electron relativistically. The first one is a no-pair model in the free picture, the second one is given by the semi-relativistic Pauli-Fierz Hamiltonian. We prove that the no-pair operator is semi-bounded below and that its spectral subspaces corresponding to energies below the ionization threshold are exponentially localized. Both results hold true, for arbitrary values of the fine-structure constant, $e^2$, and the ultra-violet cut-off, $Λ$, and for all nuclear charges less than the cri…
The electromagnetic fields in Maxwell's theory satisfy linear equations in the classical vacuum. This is modified in classical non-linear electrodynamic theories. To date there has been little experimental evidence that any of these modified theories are tenable. However with the advent of high-intensity lasers and powerful laboratory magnetic fields this situation may be changing. We argue that an approach involving the self-consistent relativistic motion of a smooth fluid-like distribution of matter (composed of a large number of charged or neutral particles) in an electromagnetic field offe…
We find a two-degree-of-freedom Hamiltonian for the time-symmetric problem of straight line motion of two electrons in direct relativistic interaction. This time-symmetric dynamical system appeared 100 years ago and it was popularized in the 1940s by the work of Wheeler and Feynman in electrodynamics, which was left incomplete due to the lack of a Hamiltonian description. The form of our Hamiltonian is such that the action of a Lorentz transformation is explicitly described by a canonical transformation (with rescaling of the evolution parameter). The method is closed and defines the Hamiltoni…
We show that the Hamiltonian describing N nonrelativistic electrons with spin, interacting with the quantized radiation field and several fixed nuclei with total charge Z has a ground state when N <Z+1. The result holds for any value of the fine structure constant alpha and for any value of the ultraviolet cutoff Lambda on the radiation field. There is no infrared cutoff. The basic mathematical ingredient in our proof is a novel way of localizing the electromagnetic field in such a way that the errors in the energy are of smaller order than 1/L, where L is the localization radius.
This work addresses the problem of infrared mass renormalization for a scalar electron in a translation-invariant model of non-relativistic QED. We assume that the interaction of the electron with the quantized electromagnetic field comprises a fixed ultraviolet regularization and an infrared regularization parametrized by $σ>0$. For the value $p=0$ of the conserved total momentum of electron and photon field, bounds on the renormalized mass are established which are uniform in $σ\to0$, and the existence of a ground state is proved. For $|p|>0$ sufficiently small, bounds on the renormalized ma…
We briefly report on our method [Fiore JPA 2017] of simplifying the equations of motion of charged particles in an electromagnetic field that is the sum of a plane travelling wave and a static part; it is based on changes of the dependent variables and the independent one (light-like coordinate instead of time t). We sketch its application to a few cases of extreme laser-induced accelerations, both in vacuum and in plane problems at the vacuum-plasma interface, where we are able to reduce the system of the (Lorentz-Maxwell and continuity) partial differential equations into a family of decoupl…
Within no inertial frame can stationary charge exist. All charge, wherever it exists, experiences perpetual interaction with charge elsewhere and so can only exist as non-trivial current. It follows that the notion of the electrostatic scalar potential is a pragmatic idealization - it is not fundamental and is useful simply because, in many practical circumstances, the time scales of interest are sufficiently small that charges can be considered stationary in appropriately chosen inertial frames. In this paper, we take the view that the subsuming of the electrostatic scalar potential within cl…
Instead of a linear system of equations for a free electromagnetic field, we propose a nonlinear system of equations. The classical electrodynamics is preseved. The appeared solutions (the electromagnetic fields) having photon properties. The theory posits the vacuum is a physical medium. The most important problems of relativistic interaction of interpenetrating mediums are studied.
The effective mass $\mass$ of the the Pauli-Fierz Hamiltonain with ultraviolet cutoff $Λ$ and the bare mass $m$ in nonrelativistic QED with spin 1/2 is investigated. Analytic properties of $\mass$ in coupling constant $e$ are shown and explicit forms of constants $a_1(Λ/m)$ and $a_2(Λ/m)$ depending on $Λ/m$ such that $$\mass/m =1 + a_1(Λ/m) e^2+ a_2(Λ/m) e^4+ {\mathcal O}(e^6)$$ are given. It is shown that the spin interaction enhances the effective mass and that there exist strictly positive constants $b_1,b_2, c_1$ and $c_2$ such that $$\d b_1\leq \lim_{Λ\to\infty} \frac{a_1(\Lamdda/m)}{\log…
This paper presents a brief review of the newly developed \emph{Extended Electrodynamics}. The relativistic and non-relativistic approaches to the extension of Maxwell equations are considered briefly, and the further study is carried out in relativistic terms in Minkowski space-time. The non-linear vacuum solutions are considered and fully described. It is specially pointed out that solitary waves with various, in fact arbitrary, spatial structure and photon-like propagation properties exist. The {\it null} character of all non-linear vacuum solutions is established and extensively used furth…
Much progress has been made in the last few decades in developing the necessary mathematics for understanding the full implications of the quantum-mechanical many-body problem and why the material world appears to be as stable as it is despite the serious -1/|x|singularity of the Coulomb potential that attracts negative electrons to positive atomic nuclei. Many problems remain, however, especially the understanding of the interaction of matter and the quantized radiation field discovered by Planck in 1900. A short review of some of the main topics is given.
We propose a new method to derive certain higher order estimates in quantum electrodynamics. Our method is particularly convenient in the application to the non-local semi-relativistic models of quantum electrodynamics as it avoids the use of iterated commutator expansions. We re-derive higher order estimates obtained earlier by Fröhlich, Griesemer, and Schlein and prove new estimates for a non-local molecular no-pair operator.
We introduce a relativistic splitting structure as a means to map fields and equations of electromagnetism from curved four-dimensional space-time to three-dimensional observer's space. We focus on a minimal set of mathematical structures that are directly motivated by the language of the physical theory. Space-time, world-lines, time translation, space platforms, and time synchronization all find their mathematical counterparts. The splitting structure is defined without recourse to coordinates or frames. This is noteworthy since, in much of the prevalent literature, observers are identified …
Hamiltonian models based on two different infrared approximations are studied in order to obtain an explicit comparison with the standard analysis of the infrared contributions, occurring in the relativistically covariant perturbative formulation of Quantum Electrodynamics. Moller operators, preserving respectively the Hilbert scalar product, for the Coulomb-gauge models, and an indefinite metric, for the models formulated in Feynman's gauge, are obtained in the presence of an infrared cutoff, after the removal of an adiabatic switching and with the aid of a suitable mass renormalization. In t…
The Bogoliubov-Dirac-Fock (BDF) model is a no-photon, mean-field approxi- mation of quantum electrodynamics. It describes relativistic electrons in the Dirac sea. In this model, a state is fully characterized by its one-body density matrix, an infinite rank nonnegative operator. We prove the existence of the positronium, the bound state of an electron and a positron, represented by a critical point of the energy functional in the absence of external field. This state is interpreted as the ortho-positronium, where the two particles have parallel spins.
We discuss recent results concerning the ground state of non-relativistic quantum electrodynamics as a function of a magnetic coupling constant or the fine structure constant, obtained by the authors in [12,13,14].
A simple mathematical procedure is introduced which allows redefining in an exact way divergent integrals and limits that appear in the basic equations of classical electrodynamics with point charges. In this way all divergences are at once removed without affecting the locality and the relativistic covariance of the theory, and with no need for mass renormalization. The procedure is first used to obtain a finite expression for the electromagnetic energy-momentum of the system. We show that the relativistic Lorentz-Dirac equation can be deduced from the conservation of this electromagnetic ene…
We prove the limiting absorption principle for a dressed electron at a fixed total momentum in the standard model of non-relativistic quantum electrodynamics. Our proof is based on an application of the smooth Feshbach-Schur map in conjunction with Mourre's theory.
We revisit the exact microscopic equations (in differential, and equivalent integral form) ruling a relativistic cold plasma after the plane-wave Ansatz, without customary approximations. We show that in the Eulerian description the motion of a very diluted plasma initially at rest and excited by an arbitrary transverse plane electromagnetic travelling-wave has a very simple and explicit dependence on the transverse electromagnetic potential; for a non-zero density plasma the above motion is a good approximation of the real one as long as the back-reaction of the charges on the electromagnetic…
In this article, we put forward a new approach to electrodynamics of materials. Based on the identification of induced electromagnetic fields as the microscopic counterparts of polarization and magnetization, we systematically employ the mutual functional dependencies of induced, external and total field quantities. This allows for a unified, relativistic description of the electromagnetic response without assuming the material to be composed of electric or magnetic dipoles. Using this approach, we derive universal (material-independent) relations between electromagnetic response functions suc…
A new representation for solutions of Maxwell's equations is derived. Instead of being expanded in plane waves, the solutions are given as linear superpositions of spherical wavelets dynamically adapted to the Maxwell field and well-localized in space at the initial time. The wavelet representation of a solution is analogous to its Fourier representation, but has the advantage of being local. It is closely related to the relativistic coherent-state representations for the Klein-Gordon and Dirac fields developed in earlier work.
