Multipolar quantum electrodynamics of localized charge-current distributions: Spectral theory and renormalization

Abstract

We formulate a nonrelativistic quantum field theory to model interactions between quantized electromagnetic fields and localized charge-current distributions. The electronic degrees of freedom are encoded in microscopic polarization and magnetization field operators whose moments are identified with the multipole moments of the charge-current distribution. The multipolar Hamiltonian is obtained from the minimal coupling Hamiltonian through a unitary transformation, often referred to as the Power-Zienau-Woolley transformation; we renormalize this Hamiltonian using perturbation theory, the result of which is used to compute the leading-order radiative corrections to the electronic energy levels due to interactions between the electrons and quantum vacuum fluctuations in the electromagnetic field. Our renormalized energy shift constitutes a generalization of the Lamb shift in atomic hydrogen, valid for general localized assemblies of atoms and molecules, possibly with net charge but absent a free current. By expanding the fields in a series of multipole moments, our results can be used to study contributions to this energy shift coming from specific multipole moments of arbitrary order.