Resonant transfer of excitation between two molecules using Maxwell fields

Area of Science:

• Quantum electrodynamics
• Molecular spectroscopy
• Theoretical chemistry

Background:

• Understanding energy transfer between molecules is crucial for fields like photochemistry and materials science.
• Existing methods often rely on approximations or specific multipole orders.
• A comprehensive theoretical framework is needed to describe resonant excitation transfer involving arbitrary multipole moments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a quantum electrodynamical response theory framework for calculating the matrix element of resonant excitation transfer.
• To derive the necessary electric and magnetic multipole dependent field operators.
• To apply the theory to calculate excitation transfer rates between chiral molecules.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing quantum electrodynamical response theory to calculate the matrix element for resonant excitation transfer.
• Deriving functional forms for lth order linear electric and magnetic multipole dependent operators.
• Modeling the unexcited molecule as a test body interacting with the Maxwell fields of an excited molecule.

Main Results:

• The generalized electric-electric multipole contribution to the matrix element was validated against time-dependent perturbation theory.
• A method was established to calculate excitation transfer involving arbitrary order electric and magnetic multipole moments.
• The rate of excitation transfer between two chiral molecules was computed.

Conclusions:

• The derived quantum electrodynamical response theory provides a robust method for calculating resonant excitation transfer.
• The study demonstrates that excitation transfer rates between chiral molecules are dependent on their chirality (handedness).
• This work offers new insights into intermolecular interactions and energy transfer mechanisms in chiral systems.