Quantum electrodynamics of equilibrium systems: A rigorous Maxwell-regularized functional-theoretic formulation

Abstract:A framework for quantum electrodynamics of equilibrium systems is proposed that takes the Maxwell equations as foundational and links them to the structure of density-functional theory for the quantum system. By switching from purely internal observables like the one-particle density to combined internal and external quantities, the external sources and their energy are taken into account. A fully regularized functional theory emerges that avoids the usual representability problems. With the Kohn-Sham construction that links to an auxiliary uncoupled system, the ultra-violet cutoff can be removed and one arrives at a fully renormalized and non-perturbative light-matter description. Regularized forms of density-functional theory with and without magnetic fields appear as boundary cases, while the emergent physical picture reproduces the macroscopic Maxwell equations.

Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci); Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)

arXiv:2609.18327 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

(or arXiv:2609.18327v1 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.18327 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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