Work

Basis light-front quantization approach to positronium

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: We present the first application of the recently developed basis light-front quantization (BLFQ) method to self-bound systems in quantum field theory, using the positronium system as a test case. Within the BLFQ framework, we develop a two-body effective interaction, operating only in the lowest Fock sector, that implements photon exchange, neglecting fermion self-energy effects. We then solve for the mass spectrum of this interaction at the unphysical coupling $\ensuremath{\alpha}=0.3$. The resulting spectrum is in good agreement with the expected Bohr spectrum of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. We examine in detail the dependence of the results on the regulators of the theory.

Source: Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields

DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.91.105009

Authors: Paul Wiecki, Yang Li, Xingbo Zhao, Pieter Maris, James P. Vary

Institution: Iowa State University

Language: English

Topic: Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy

Awards: G42916606, INTERMEDIATE/HIGH ENERGY NUCLEAR PHYSICS, Collaborative Research: Taming the scale explosion in nuclear structure calculations, NUCLEI (NUCLEAR COMPUTATIONAL LOW-ENERGY INITIATIVE)