Quantum Anomaly in Molecular Physics
- 12 November 2001
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 87 (22), 220402
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.87.220402
Abstract
The interaction of an electron with a polar molecule is shown to be the simplest realization of a quantum anomaly in a physical system. The existence of a critical dipole moment for electron capture and formation of anions, which has been confirmed experimentally and numerically, is derived. This phenomenon is a manifestation of the anomaly associated with quantum symmetry breaking of the classical scale invariance exhibited by the point-dipole interaction. Finally, analysis of symmetry breaking for this system is implemented within two different models: point dipole subject to an anomaly and finite dipole subject to explicit symmetry breaking.Keywords
Other Versions
This publication has 39 references indexed in Scilit:
- On scale invariance and anomalies in quantum mechanicsAmerican Journal of Physics, 1998
- On charge quantization and abelian gauge horizontal symmetriesPhysics Letters B, 1997
- FromtoPotentials: Electron Exchange between Rydberg Atoms and Polar MoleculesPhysical Review Letters, 1994
- Autodetachment dynamics of acetaldehyde enolate anion, CH2CHO-The Journal of Physical Chemistry, 1993
- Minimum dipole moment required to bind an electron—molecular theorists rediscover phenomenon mentioned in Fermi-Teller paper twenty years earlierAmerican Journal of Physics, 1977
- Electron affinities of polar moleculesThe Journal of Chemical Physics, 1977
- Weakly bound states of a charged particle in a finite-dipole fieldTheoretical and Mathematical Physics, 1972
- Introducing scale symmetryPhysics Today, 1972
- A PCAC puzzle: π0→γγ in the σ-modelIl Nuovo Cimento A (1971-1996), 1969
- The Two Centre Problem in Wave MechanicsMathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 1935