Ab initio QED calculations in diatomic quasimolecules

We present a theoretical approach for ab initio calculations of the one-loop QED corrections to energy levels of heavy diatomic quasimolecules. This approach is based on the partial-wave expansion of the molecular wave and Green's functions in the basis of monopole solutions, written in spherical coordinates. By using so-generated molecular functions, we employ the existing atomic-physics techniques to evaluate the self-energy and vacuum-polarization corrections. In order to illustrate the application of our method, we perform detailed calculations of the Dirac energy and QED corrections for the 1 sigma(g) ground state of homonuclear U-2(183+) and heteronuclear U-Pb173+ and Bi-Au161+ quasimolecules.

Automated summary

We present a theoretical approach for calculating the one-loop QED corrections to energy levels of heavy diatomic quasimolecules from first principles. The method utilizes the partial-wave expansion and monopole solutions in spherical coordinates to evaluate self-energy and vacuum-polarization corrections. Detailed calculations are performed for the Dirac energy and QED corrections of specific quasimolecules to illustrate the application of the method.