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Spontaneous Decay of Resonant Energy Levels for Molecules with Moving Nuclei

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Abstract

We consider the Pauli-Fierz Hamiltonian with dynamical nuclei and investigate the transitions between the resonant electronic energy levels under the assumption that there are no free photons in the beginning. Coupling the limits of small fine structure constant and of heavy nuclei allows us to prove the validity of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation at leading order and to provide a simple formula for the rate of spontaneous decay.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mathematisches Institut der Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, 72076, Tübingen, Germany

    Stefan Teufel & Jakob Wachsmuth

Authors
  1. Stefan Teufel
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  2. Jakob Wachsmuth
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Correspondence to Stefan Teufel.

Additional information

Communicated by I. M. Sigal

This work was supported by the German Science Foundation (DFG).

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Teufel, S., Wachsmuth, J. Spontaneous Decay of Resonant Energy Levels for Molecules with Moving Nuclei. Commun. Math. Phys. 315, 699–738 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00220-012-1547-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00220-012-1547-3

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