Resonant excitation transfer: A quantum electrodynamical study

Abstract
A new quantum electrodynamical (QED) method is presented, based in the Schrödinger representation, for the calculation of the rate of energy transfer between identical molecules. In contrast to existing methods in this representation, the new treatment gives explicitly causal and energy‐conserving results. By returning to perturbation theory the correct, complex form for the electric dipole–electric dipole interaction tensor is obtained, without recourse to the physical, ‘‘outgoing wave’’ arguments of quantum scattering theory necessary if the Fermi rule is used. This method also allows a new interpretation for the role of the time‐ordered diagrams involved, which may be useful in the rigorous treatment of higher order cooperative processes. The QED treatment uses virtual photon coupling, and incorporates both the Coulombic, R6 dependence, and the R2 dependence characteristic of two‐step radiative transfer.

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