QED Interaction Research Articles

Medium-induced photon bremsstrahlung in neutrino-nucleus, antineutrino-nucleus, and electron-nucleus scattering from multiple QED interactions

Interactions of charged leptons with nuclei and the naive tree-level kinematics of these processes are affected by radiation of photons induced by the QED nuclear medium. We evaluate cross section modifications at leading orders of the number of correlated interactions inside the nucleus, known as the opacity expansion. We derive results for soft and collinear types of the bremsstrahlung at the first three orders in opacity and generalize them to higher orders. We present the leading in opacity energy spectra of soft and collinear photons and radiative energy loss inside the nucleus for experiments with lepton kinematics in the GeV energy range. At leading power of the Glauber soft-collinear effective field theory, the soft radiation is further resummed to all orders both in opacity and in the electromagnetic coupling constant. We find that the soft and collinear medium-induced radiation is vacuumlike, and additional corrections are power suppressed. Despite the negligible modification to the induced photon spectra, the nuclear medium-induced radiation sizably affects the broadening of charged leptons in the direction orthogonal to their propagation. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

QED Meson Description of the Anomalous Particles at ∼17 and ∼38 MeV

The Schwinger confinement mechanism stipulates that a massless fermion and a massless antifermion are confined as a massive boson when they interact in the Abelian QED interaction in (1+1)D.If we approximate light quarks as massless and apply the Schwinger confinement mechanism to quarks, we can infer that a light quark and a light antiquark interacting in the Abelian QED interaction are confined as a QED meson in (1+1)D. Similarly, a light quark and a light antiquark interacting in the QCD interaction in the quasi-Abelian approximation will be confined as a QCD meson in (1+1)D. The QED and QCD mesons in (1+1)D can represent physical mesons in (3+1)D when the flux tube radius is properly taken into account. Such a theory leads to a reasonable description of the masses of π0,η, and η′, and its extrapolation to the unknown QED sector yields an isoscalar QED meson at about 17 MeV and an isovector QED meson at about 38 MeV. The observations of the anomalous soft photons, the hypothetical X17 particle, and the hypothetical E38 particle bear promising evidence for the possible existence of the QED mesons. Pending further confirmation, they hold important implications on the properties on the quarks and their interactions.

Dynamics of quarks and gauge fields in the lowest-energy states in QED and QCD interactions

Dynamics of quarks and gauge fields in the lowest-energy states in QED and QCD interactions

Broadening of particle distributions in electron-, neutrino-, and antineutrino-nucleus scattering from QED interactions

Broadening of particle distributions in electron-, neutrino-, and antineutrino-nucleus scattering from QED interactions

Isospin-breaking corrections to light-meson leptonic decays from lattice simulations at physical quark masses

The decreasing uncertainties in theoretical predictions and experimental measurements of several hadronic observables related to weak processes, which in many cases are now smaller than O(1%), require theoretical calculations to include subleading corrections that were neglected so far. Precise determinations of leptonic and semi-leptonic decay rates, including QED and strong isospin-breaking effects, can play a central role in solving the current tensions in the first-row unitarity of the CKM matrix. In this work we present the first RBC/UKQCD lattice calculation of the isospin-breaking corrections to the ratio of leptonic decay rates of kaons and pions into muons and neutrinos. The calculation is performed at fixed lattice spacing (a−1 ≃ 1.730 GeV) on a 483× 96 volume with Nf = 2 + 1 dynamical quarks close to the physical point and domain wall fermions in the Möbius formulation are employed. Long-distance QED interactions are included according to the QEDL prescription and the crucial role of finite-volume electromagnetic corrections in the determination of leptonic decay rates, which produce a large systematic uncertainty, is extensively discussed. Finally, we study the different sources of uncertainty on |Vus|/|Vud| and observe that, if finite-volume systematics can be reduced, the error from isospin-breaking corrections is potentially sub-dominant in the final precision of the ratio of the CKM matrix elements.

QCD QED Potentials, Quark Confinement

One of the enduring puzzles in high energy particle physics is why quarks do not exist independently ‎despite their existence inside the hadron as quarks have never been found in isolation. This problem may ‎be solved by formulating a QCD potential for the entire range of interaction distances of the quarks. The ‎mystery could be related to the fundamental origin of the mass of elementary particles despite the success ‎of the quantum field theories to the highest level of accuracy. The renormalization program is an essential ‎part of the calculation of the scattering amplitudes, where the infinities of the calculated masses of the ‎elementary particles are subtracted for the progressive calculation of the higher-order perturbative terms. ‎The mathematical structure of the mass term from quantum field theories expressed in the form of infinities ‎suggests that there may exist a finite dynamical mass in the limit when the input mass parameter ‎approaches zero. The Lagrangian recovers symmetry at the same time as the input mass becomes zero, ‎whereas the self-energy diagrams acquire a finite dynamical mass in the 4-dimensional space when the ‎dimensional regularization method of renormalization is utilized. We report a new finding that using the ‎mathematical expression of the self-energy(mass) for photons and gluons calculated from this method, the ‎complex form of the QCD and QED interaction potentials can be obtained by replacing the fixed ‎interaction mediating particle’s mass and coupling constants in Yukawa potential with the scale-‎dependent running coupling constant and the corresponding dynamical mass. The derived QCD QED ‎potentials predict the behavior of the related elementary particles exactly as verified by experimental ‎observation.‎

On the stability of the open-string QED neutron and dark matter

We study the stability of a hypothetical QED neutron, which consists of a color-singlet system of two $d$ quarks and a $u$ quark interacting with the QED interaction. As a quark cannot be isolated, the intrinsic motion of the three quarks in the lowest-energy state may lie predominantly in 1+1 dimensions, as in a $d$-$u$-$d$ open string. The attractive $d$-$u$ and $u$-$d$ QED interactions may overcome the weaker repulsive $d$-$d$ QED interaction to bind the three quarks together. We examine the QED neutron in a phenomenological three-body problem in 1+1 dimensions with an effective interaction extracted from Schwinger's exact QED solution in 1+1 dimensions. The phenomenological model in a variational calculation yields a stable QED neutron at 44.5 MeV. The analogous QED proton with two $u$ quarks and a $d$ quark has been found to be too repulsive to be stable and does not have a bound or continuum state, onto which the QED neutron can decay via the weak interaction. Consequently, the QED neutron is stable against the weak decay, has a long lifetime, and is in fact a QED dark neutron. It may be produced following the deconfinement-to-confinement phase transition of the quark gluon plasma in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. Because of the long lifetime of the QED dark neutron, self-gravitating assemblies of QED dark neutrons or dark antineutrons may be good candidates for a part of the primordial dark matter produced during the phase transition of the quark gluon plasma in the evolution of the early Universe.

Testing a conjecture on quantum electrodynamics

A geometric Planck-scale model of quantum electrodynamics is tested against observations. Based on Dirac's proposal to describe spin 1/2 particles as tethered objects, elementary fermions are conjectured to be fluctuating rational tangles with unobservable tethers. As Battey-Pratt and Racey showed, when such tangles propagate, they obey the free Dirac equation.Classifying rational tangles yields the observed spectrum of elementary fermions. Classifying deformations of tangle cores yields exactly three types of gauge interactions. They exchange three types of elementary gauge bosons and have the symmetry groups U(1), broken SU(2) and SU(3). The possible rational tangles for fermions, Higgs and gauge bosons allow only the observed Feynman diagrams. The complete Lagrangian of the standard model arises, including the Lagrangian of quantum electrodynamics.To check the tangle model in quantum electrodynamics, over 50 tests are deduced. They include details on the perturbation expansion of the g-factor and the existence of limit values for electric and magnetic fields. So far, no test is contradicted by observations, though this could change in the future. Some tests are genuine predictions that still need to be checked.In particular, the geometry of the process occurring at QED interaction vertices suggests an ab-initio estimate for the fine structure constant. In addition, the average geometric shapes of the elementary particle tangles suggest ab-initio lower and upper limits for the mass values of the electron and the other leptons.

QED Mesons, the QED Neutron, and the Dark Matter

Schwinger’s boson solution for massless fermions in QED in 1+1D has been applied and generalized to quarks interacting in QED and QCD interactions, leading to stable and confined open-string QED and QCD boson excitations of the quark-QCD-QED system in 1+1D. Just as the open-string QCD excitations in 1+1D can be the idealization of QCD mesons with a flux tube in 3+1D, so the open-string QED excitations in 1+1D may likewise be the idealization of QED mesons with masses in the tens of MeV region, corresponding possibly to the anomalous X17 and E38 particles observed recently. A further search for bound states of quarks interacting in the QED interaction alone leads to the examination on the stability of the QED neutron, consisting of two d quarks and one u quark. Theoretically, the QED neutron has been found to be stable and estimated to have a mass of 44.5 MeV, whereas the analogous QED proton is unstable, leading to a long-lived QED neutron that may be a good candidate for the dark matter.

Gauge freedom, quantum measurements, and time-dependent interactions in cavity QED

The interaction between the electromagnetic field inside a cavity and natural or artificial atoms has played a crucial role in developing our understanding of light-matter interaction, and is central to various quantum technologies. Recently, new regimes beyond the weak and strong light-matter coupling have been explored in several settings. These regimes, where the interaction strength is comparable (ultrastrong) or even higher (deep-strong) than the transition frequencies in the system, can give rise to new physical effects and applications. At the same time, they challenge our understanding of cavity QED. When the interaction strength is so high, fundamental issues like the proper definition of subsystems and of their quantum measurements, the structure of light-matter ground states, or the analysis of time-dependent interactions are subject to ambiguities leading to even qualitatively distinct predictions. The resolution of these ambiguities is also important for understanding and designing next-generation quantum devices that will exploit the ultrastrong coupling regime. Here we discuss and provide solutions to these issues.

Modeling quantum light-matter interactions in waveguide QED with retardation, nonlinear interactions, and a time-delayed feedback: Matrix product states versus a space-discretized waveguide model

We present two different methods for modelling non-Markovian quantum light-matter interactions in waveguide QED systems, using matrix product states (MPSs) and a space-discretized waveguide (SDW) model. After describing the general theory and implementation of both approaches, we compare and contrast these methods directly on three topical problems of interest in waveguide-QED, including (i) a two-level system (TLS) coupled to an infinite (one-dimensional) waveguide, (ii) a TLS coupled to a terminated waveguide with a time-delayed coherent feedback, and (iii) two spatially separated TLSs coupled within an infinite waveguide. Both approaches are shown to efficiently model multi-photon nonlinear dynamics in highly non-Markovian regimes, and we highlight the advantages and disadvantages of these methods for modelling waveguide QED interactions, including their implementation in Python, computational run times, and ease of conceptual understanding. We explore both vacuum dynamics as well as regimes of strong optical pumping, where a weak excitation approximation cannot be applied. The MPS approach scales better when modelling multi-photon dynamics and long delay times, and explicitly includes non-Markovian memory effects. In contrast, the SDW model accounts for non-Markovian effects through space discretization, and solves Markovian equations of motion, yet rigorously includes the effects of retardation. The SDW model, based on an extension of recent collisional pictures in quantum optics, is solved through quantum trajectory techniques, and can more easily add in additional dissipation processes, including off-chip decay and TLS pure dephasing. The impact of these processes is shown directly on feedback-induced population trapping and TLS entanglement between spatially separated TLSs.

P-wave two-particle bound and scattering states in a finite volume including QED

The mass shifts for two-fermion bound and scattering P-wave states subject to the long-range interactions due to QED in the non-relativistic regime are derived. Introducing a short range force coupling the spinless fermions to one unit of angular momentum in the framework of pionless EFT, we first calculate both perturbatively and non-perturbatively the Coulomb corrections to fermion–fermion scattering in the continuum and infinite volume context. Motivated by the research on particle–antiparticle bound states, we extend the results to fermions of identical mass and opposite charge. Second, we transpose the system onto a cubic box with periodic boundary conditions and we calculate the finite volume corrections to the energy of the lowest bound and unbound T_1^{-} eigenstates. In particular, power law corrections proportional to the fine structure constant and resembling the recent results for S-wave states are found. Higher order contributions in alpha are neglected, since the gapped nature of the momentum operator in the finite-volume environnement allows for a perturbative treatment of the QED interactions.

QED interaction effects on heavy meson masses from lattice QCD+QED

Hadron masses are subject to few MeV corrections arising from QED interactions, almost entirely arising from the electric charge of the valence quarks. The QED effects include both self-energy contributions and interactions between the valence quarks/antiquarks. By combining results from different signs of the valence quark electric charge we are able to isolate the interaction term which is dominated by the Coulomb piece, $⟨{\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{\mathrm{QED}}{e}_{{q}_{1}}{e}_{{\overline{q}}_{2}}/r⟩$, in the nonrelativistic limit. We study this for ${D}_{s}$, ${\ensuremath{\eta}}_{c}$ and $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ mesons, working in lattice QCD plus quenched QED. We use gluon field configurations that include up, down, strange and charm quarks in the sea at multiple values of the lattice spacing. Our results, including also values for mesons with quarks heavier than charm, can be used to improve phenomenological models for the QED contributions. The QED interaction term carries information about meson structure; we derive effective sizes $⟨1/{r}_{\mathrm{eff}}{⟩}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ for ${\ensuremath{\eta}}_{c}$, $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ and ${D}_{s}$ of 0.206(8) fm, 0.321(14) fm and 0.307(31) fm respectively.

Inverse design of light–matter interactions in macroscopic QED

Inverse design represents a paradigm shift in the development of nanophotonic devices, where optimal geometries and materials are discovered by an algorithm rather than symmetry considerations or intuition. Here we present a very general formulation of inverse design that is applicable to atomic interactions in external environments, and derive from this some explicit formulae for optimisation of spontaneous decay rates, Casimir–Polder forces and resonant energy transfer. Using Purcell enhancement of the latter as a simple example, we employ finite-difference time-domain techniques in a proof-of-principle demonstration of our formula, finding enhancement of the rate many orders of magnitude larger than a selection of traditional designs.

Open string QED meson description of the X17 particle and dark matter

As a quark and an antiquark cannot be isolated, the intrinsic motion of a composite qoverline{q} system in its lowest-energy states lies predominantly in 1+1 dimensions, as in an open string with the quark and the antiquark at its two ends. Accordingly, we study the lowest-energy states of an open string qoverline{q} system in QCD and QED in 1+1 dimensions. We show that π0, η, and η′ can be adequately described as open string qoverline{q} QCD mesons. By extrapolating into the qoverline{q} QED sector in which a quark and an antiquark interact with the QED interaction, we find an open string isoscalar I(Jπ) = 0(0−) QED meson state at 17.9±1.5 MeV and an isovector (I(Jπ) = 1(0−), I3 = 0) QED meson state at 36.4±3.8 MeV. The predicted masses of the isoscalar and isovector QED mesons are close to the masses of the hypothetical X17 and E38 particles observed recently, making them good candidates for these particles. The decay products of QED mesons may show up as excess e+e− and γγ pairs in the anomalous soft photon phenomenon associated with hadron productions in high-energy hadron-proton collisions and e+-e− annihilations. Measurements of the invariant masses of excess e+e− and γγ pairs will provide tests for the existence of the open string qoverline{q} QED mesons. An assembly of gravitating QED mesons are expected to emit electron-positron pairs and/or gamma rays and their decay energies and lifetimes will be modified by their gravitational binding energies. Consequently, a self-gravitating isoscalar QED meson assembly whose mass M and radius R satisfy (M/M⨀)/(R/R⨀) ≳ 2 4.71 × 105 will not produce electron-positron pairs nor gamma rays and may be a good candidate for the primordial dark matter.

One-Mode Wigner Quasi-Probability Distribution Function for Entangled Coherent States Generated by Beam Splitter and Cavity QED

In this paper, we use the displacement operator together with parity operation to construct the superposition of two coherent states. By transmitting this superposition from 50–50 beam splitter the two-mode qubit-like entangled coherent state (ECS) is generated. Moreover, we introduce a controllable method for producing qutrit-like ECS using atom–field interaction in cavity QED and beam splitter. We will show that the distances of peaks of Wigner functions for reduced density matrices of two-mode ECS's are entanglement sensitive and can be witnesses of entanglement. To confirm the results we use concurrence measure to compare bipartite entanglement of ECS's with the behaviour of peaks of Wigner functions. Moreover, we investigate decoherence effects on Wigner function, arising from transmitting ECS's through noisy channels.

Breakdown of gauge invariance in ultrastrong-coupling cavity QED

We revisit the derivation of Rabi- and Dicke-type models, which are commonly used for the study of quantum light-matter interactions in cavity and circuit QED. We demonstrate that the validity of the two-level approximation, which is an essential step in this derivation, depends explicitly on the choice of gauge once the system enters the ultrastrong coupling regime. In particular, while in the electric dipole gauge the two-level approximation can be performed as long as the Rabi frequency remains much smaller than the energies of all higher-lying levels, it can dramatically fail in the Coulomb gauge, even for systems with an extremely anharmonic spectrum. We extensively investigate this phenomenon both in the single-dipole (Rabi) and multi-dipole (Dicke) case, and considering the specific examples of dipoles confined by double-well and by square-well potentials, and of circuit QED systems with flux qubits coupled to an LC resonator.

Neutron magnetic polarizability with Landau mode operators

The application of a uniform background magnetic field makes standard quark operators utilising gauge-covariant Gaussian smearing inefficient at isolating the ground state nucleon at nontrivial field strengths. In the absence of QCD interactions, Landau modes govern the quark energy levels. There is evidence that residual Landau mode effects remain when the strong interaction is turned on. Here we introduce novel quark operators constructed from the two-dimensional $U(1)$ Laplacian eigenmodes that describe the Landau levels of a charged particle on a periodic finite lattice. These eigenmode-projected quark operators provide enhanced precision for calculating nucleon energy shifts in a magnetic field. Using asymmetric source and sink operators, we are able to encapsulate the predominant effects of both the QCD and QED interactions in the interpolating fields for the neutron. The neutron magnetic polarizability is calculated using these techniques on the $32^3 \times 64$ dynamical QCD lattices provided by the PACS-CS Collaboration. In conjunction with a chiral effective-field theory analysis, we obtain a neutron magnetic polarizability of $\beta^n = 2.05(25)(19) \times 10^{-4}$ fm$^3$, where the numbers in parentheses describe statistical and systematic uncertainties.

Dipole-dipole interaction in cavity QED: The weak-coupling, nondegenerate regime

We compute the interaction energies of a two-atom system placed in the middle of a perfectly reflecting planar cavity, in the perturbative regime. Explicit expressions are provided for the van der Waals potentials of two polarisable atomic dipoles as well as for the electrostatic potential of two induced dipoles. For the van der Waals potentials, several scenarios are considered, namely, a pair of atoms in their ground states, a pair of atoms both excited, and a pair of dissimilar atoms with one of them excited. In addition, the corresponding phase-shift of the two-atom wavefunction is calculated in each case. The effects of the two-dimensional confinement of the electromagnetic field by the cavity are analyzed in each scenario.

Nonlinear QED effects in X-ray emission of pulsars

In the presence of strong magnetic fields near pulsars, the QED vacuum becomes a birefringent medium due to nonlinear QED interactions. Here, we explore the impact of the effective photon-photon interaction on the polarization evolution of photons propagating through the magnetized QED vacuum of a pulsar. We solve the quantum Boltzmann equation within the framework of the Euler-Heisenberg Lagrangian to find the evolution of the Stokes parameters. We find that linearly polarized X-ray photons propagating outward in the magnetosphere of a rotating neutron star can acquire high values for the circular polarization parameter. Meanwhile, it is shown that the polarization characteristics of photons besides photon energy depend strongly on parameters of the pulsars such as magnetic field strength, inclination angle and rotational period. Our results are clear predictions of QED vacuum polarization effects in the near vicinity of magnetic stars which can be tested with the upcoming X-ray polarimetric observations.