Stability of a Model of Relativistic Quantum Electrodynamics

TL;DR

This paper proves the stability of a relativistic quantum electrodynamics model with quantized fields for realistic physical parameters, extending previous classical field results to the quantum case.

Contribution

It extends stability results of a relativistic QED model from classical to quantized fields, for realistic coupling constants and nuclear charges.

Findings

Stability established for =1/137 and Z  2

Model remains stable with quantized fields, unlike classical case

Electron Hilbert space linked to photon Fock space

Abstract

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 \alpha and Z are not too large). This result is extended to quantized fields here, and stability is proved for \alpha =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.