Derivation of a novel Potential Energy Surface from Quantum Electrodynamics

What is it about?

The paper is a non-perturbative analysis of Quantum Electrodynamics which is needed e.g. when electromagnetic fields are very strong or when dealing with bound states. While non-perturbative analysis is well-known in Quantum Field Theory (using Monte-Carlo methods,Schwinger-Dyson equations, etc.), a novel way for non-perturbative treatment is shown in this paper. Here, a new variant of the saddlepoint approximation, which was developed recently and is based on recursive insertions of unity in a suitable way, was used to get a new potential energy surface. This method is useful when the integrand is not necessarily sharply peaked, in other words when (quantum) fluctuations are very strong.

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Photo by A Chosen Soul on Unsplash

Photo by A Chosen Soul on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Potential Energy Surfaces are vital for modern theoretical chemistry or nuclear and particle physics. These describe the chemical bonding structure of molecules which could ultimately give insight to chemical reaction pathways. The paper claims that due to strong quantum fluctuations, certain potential energy surfaces could be completely different as expected. For example, in biological systems, such anomalous molecular structures could be used which means that some chemical reaction mechanisms in biological organisms are still not known yet.

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