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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Factorization of static perturbation theory for weakly coupled systems using imaginary time

Georg Jansen*

  • *Contact author: georg.jansen@uni-due.de
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Phys. Rev. A 113, L030201 – Published 3 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qw5d-5ztg

Abstract

Starting from the interaction picture in quantum mechanics it is shown that perturbation theory for a weak static coupling of two subsystems in a natural way can be reformulated through integrals over products of imaginary time cross correlation functions. This inter alia leads to an expression for the London dispersion energy contribution of intermolecular interactions offering new ways to its numerical computation. The frequency-dependent charge susceptibility functions at imaginary frequencies appearing in the Casimir-Polder expression for the dispersion energy and the imaginary time density fluctuation cross correlation functions occuring in the equivalent alternative formula turn out to be Fourier cosine transform pairs.

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Phys. Rev. A 113, L030201– Published 3 March, 2026
  • Received 10 December 2025
  • Accepted 5 February 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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