Noncovariant gauge fixing in the quantum Dirac field theory of atoms and molecules

被引:9
|
作者
Stokes, Adam [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Leeds, Sch Phys & Astron, Leeds LS2 9JT, W Yorkshire, England
来源
PHYSICAL REVIEW A | 2012年 / 86卷 / 01期
关键词
CAUSALITY PROBLEMS; INVARIANCE; P.A;
D O I
10.1103/PhysRevA.86.012511
中图分类号
O43 [光学];
学科分类号
070207 ; 0803 ;
摘要
Starting from the Weyl gauge formulation of quantum electrodynamics (QED), the formalism of quantum-mechanical gauge fixing is extended using techniques from nonrelativistic QED. This involves expressing the redundant gauge degrees of freedom through an arbitrary functional of the gauge-invariant transverse degrees of freedom. Particular choices of functional can be made to yield the Coulomb gauge and Poincare gauge representations. The Hamiltonian we derive therefore serves as a good starting point for the description of atoms and molecules by means of a relativistic Dirac field. We discuss important implications for the ontology of noncovariant canonical QED due to the gauge freedom that remains present in our formulation.
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页数:7
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