Julien Toulouse

We consider a one-dimensional effective quantum electrodynamics (QED) model of the relativistic hydrogen-like atom using delta-potential interactions. We discuss the general exact theory and the Hartree–Fock approximation. The present one-dimensional effective QED model shares the essential physical feature of the three-dimensional theory: the nuclear charge polarizes the vacuum state (creation of electron–positron pairs), which results in a QED Lamb-type shift of the bound-state energy. Yet, this 1D effective QED model eliminates some of the most serious technical difficulties of the three-dimensional theory coming from renormalization. We show how to calculate the vacuum-polarization density at zeroth order in the two-particle interaction and the QED Lamb-type shift of the bound-state energy at first order in the two-particle interaction. The present work may be considered a step toward the development of a quantum-chemistry effective QED theory of atoms and molecules.