Multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock studies of two-electron ions. I. Electron-electron interaction

Bound-State Relativistic Quantum Electrodynamics: A Perspective for Precision Physics with Atoms and Molecules

Precision physics aims to use atoms and molecules to test and develop the fundamental theory of matter, possibly beyond the Standard Model. Most of the atomic and molecular phenomena are described by the quantum electrodynamics (QED) sector of the Standard Model. Do we have the computational tools, algorithms, and practical equations for the most possible complete computation of atoms and molecules within the QED sector? What is the fundamental equation to start with? Is it still Schrödinger's wave equation for molecular matter, or is there anything beyond that? This paper provides a concise overview of the relativistic QED framework and recent numerical developments targeting precision physics and spectroscopy applications with common features of the robust and successful relativistic quantum chemistry methodology.

Testing quantum electrodynamics in extreme fields using helium-like uranium

Quantum electrodynamics (QED), the quantum field theory that describes the interaction between light and matter, is commonly regarded as the best-tested quantum theory in modern physics. However, this claim is mostly based on extremely precise studies performed in the domain of relatively low field strengths and light atoms and ions1-6. In the realm of very strong electromagnetic fields such as in the heaviest highly charged ions (with nuclear charge Z ≫ 1), QED calculations enter a qualitatively different, non-perturbative regime. Yet, the corresponding experimental studies are very challenging, and theoretical predictions are only partially tested. Here we present an experiment sensitive to higher-order QED effects and electron-electron interactions in the high-Z regime. This is achieved by using a multi-reference method based on Doppler-tuned X-ray emission from stored relativistic uranium ions with different charge states. The energy of the 1s1/22p3/2 J = 2 → 1s1/22s1/2 J = 1 intrashell transition in the heaviest two-electron ion (U90+) is obtained with an accuracy of 37 ppm. Furthermore, a comparison of uranium ions with different numbers of bound electrons enables us to disentangle and to test separately the one-electron higher-order QED effects and the bound electron-electron interaction terms without the uncertainty related to the nuclear radius. Moreover, our experimental result can discriminate between several state-of-the-art theoretical approaches and provides an important benchmark for calculations in the strong-field domain.

Testing Quantum Electrodynamics with Exotic Atoms

Precision study of few-electron, high-Z ions is a privileged field for probing high-field, bound-state quantum electrodynamics (BSQED). However, the accuracy of such tests is plagued by nuclear uncertainties, which are often larger than the BSQED effects under investigation. We propose an alternative method with exotic atoms and show that transitions may be found between circular Rydberg states where nuclear contributions are vanishing while BSQED effects remain large. When probed with newly available quantum sensing detectors, these systems offer gains in sensitivity of 1 to 2 orders of magnitude, while the mean electric field largely exceeds the Schwinger limit.

Relativistic and QED effects on NMR magnetic shielding constant of neutral and ionized atoms and diatomic molecules

We show here results of four-component calculations of nuclear magnetic resonance σ for atoms with 10 ≤ Z ≤ 86 and their ions, within the polarization propagator formalism at its random phase level of approach, and the first estimation of quantum electrodynamic (QED) effects and Breit interactions of those atomic systems by using two theoretical effective models. We also show QED corrections to σ(X) in simple diatomic HX and X₂ (X = Br, I, At) molecules. We found that the Z dependence of QED corrections in bound-state many-electron systems is proportional to Z⁵, which is higher than its dependence in H-like systems. The analysis of relativistic ee (or paramagneticlike) and pp (or diamagneticlike) terms of σ exposes two different patterns: the pp contribution arises from virtual electron-positron pair creation/annihilation and the ee contribution is mainly given by 1s → ns and 2s → ns excitations. The QED effects on shieldings have a negative sign, and their magnitude is larger than 1% of the relativistic effects for high-Z atoms such as Hg and Rn, and up to 0.6% of its total four-component value for neutral Rn. Furthermore, percentual contributions of QED effects to the total shielding are larger for ionized than for neutral atoms. In a molecule, the contribution of QED effects to σ(X) is determined by its highest-Z atoms, being up to -0.6% of its total σ value for astatine compounds. It is found that QED effects grow faster than relativistic effects with Z.

QED effects on individual atomic orbital energies

Several issues, concerning QED corrections, that are important in precise atomic calculations are presented. The leading QED corrections, self-energy and vacuum polarization, to the orbital energy for selected atoms with 30 ≤ Z ≤ 118 have been calculated. The sum of QED and Breit contributions to the orbital energy is analyzed. It has been found that for ns subshells the Breit and QED contributions are of comparative size, but for np and nd subshells the Breit contribution takes a major part of the QED+Breit sum. It has also, been found that the Breit to leading QED contributions ratio for ns subshells is almost independent of Z. The Z-dependence of QED and Breit+QED contributions per subshell is shown. The fitting coefficients may be used to estimate QED effects on inner molecular orbitals. We present results of our calculations for QED contributions to orbital energy of valence ns-subshell for group 1 and 11 atoms and discuss about the reliability of these numbers by comparing them with experimental first ionization potential data.