Quantum electrodynamics basic principles

Quantum electrodynamics is the fundamental physical theory which obeys the principles of special relativity and allows us to describe the mutual interactions of electrons and photons. It is intrinsically a many-particle theory, although much too complicated from a numerical point of view to be the basis for the theoretical framework of the molecular sciences. Nonetheless, it is the basic theory of chemistry and its essential concepts, and ingredients are introduced in this chapter. 

If two or more closely spaced molecular levels are simultaneously excited by a short laser pulse, the time-resolved total fluorescence intensity emitted from these coherently prepared levels shows a modulated exponential decay. The modulation pattern, known as quantwn beats is due to interference between the fluorescence amplitudes emitted from these coherently excited levels. Although a more thorough discussion of quantum beats demands the theoretical framework of quantum electrodynamics [11.33], it is possible to understand the basic principle by using more simple argumentation. 

Not only mechanics but all of physics can be derived from the principle of least action. There are appropriate Lagrangian functions for electrodynamics, quantum mechanics, hydrodynamics, etc., which all allow us to derive the basic equations of the respective discipline from the principle of least action. In this sense, the principle of least action is the most powerful economy principle known in physics since it is sufficient to know the principle of least action, and the rest can be derived. Nature as a whole seems to be organized according to this principle. The principle of least action can be found under various names in nearly every branch of science. For instance the principle of least cost in economy or Fermat s principle of least time in optics. 

In the last chapter the basic framework of classical nonrelativistic mechanics has been developed. This theory crucially relies on the Galilean principle of relativity (cf. section 2.1.2), which does not match experimental results for high velocities and therefore has to be replaced by the more general relativity principle of Einstein. It will directly lead to classical relativistic mechanics and electrodynamics, where again the term classical is used to distinguish this theory from the corresponding relativistic quantum theory to be presented in later chapters. 

Having introduced the principles of special relativity in classical mechanics and electrodynamics as well as the foundations of quantum theory, we now discuss their unification in the relativistic, quantum mechanical description of the motion of a free electron. One might start right away with an appropriate ansatz for the basic equation of motion with arbitrary parameters to be chosen to fulfill boundary conditions posed by special relativity, which would lead us to the Dirac equation in standard notation. However, we proceed stepwise and derive the Klein-Gordon equation first so that the subsequent steps leading to Dirac s equation for a freely moving electron can be better understood. 

Basic requirements on feasible systems and approaches for computational modeling of fuel cell materials are (i) the computational approach must be consistent with fundamental physical principles, that is, it must obey the laws of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, electrodynamics, classical mechanics, and quantum mechanics (ii) the structural model must provide a sufficiently detailed representation of the real system it must include the appropriate set of species and represent the composition of interest, specified in terms of mass or volume fractions of components (iii) asymptotic limits, corresponding to uniform and pure phases of system components, as well as basic thermodynamic and kinetic properties must be reproduced, for example, density, viscosity, dielectric properties, self-diffusion coefficients, and correlation functions (iv) the simulation must be able to treat systems of sufficient size and simulation time in order to provide meaningful results for properties of interest and (v) the main results of a simulation must be consistent with experimental findings on structure and transport properties. 

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