Screening and enhancement of oscillating electric field in molecules

Abstract

According to the Schiff theorem, the atomic electrons completely screen the atomic nucleus from an external static electric field. However, this is not the case if the field is time-dependent. Electronic orbitals in atoms either shield the nucleus from an oscillating electric field when the frequency of the field is off the atomic resonances or enhance this field when its frequency approaches an atomic transition energy. In molecules, not only electronic, but also rotational and vibrational states are responsible for the screening of oscillating electric fields. As will be shown in this paper, the screening of a low-frequency field inside molecules is much weaker than it appears in atoms owing to the molecular ro-vibrational states. We systematically study the screening of oscillating electric fields inside diatomic molecules in different frequency regimes,i.e., when the field's frequency is either of order of ro-vibrational or electronic transition frequencies. In the resonance case, we demonstrate that the microwave-frequency electric field may be enhanced up to six orders in magnitude due to ro-vibrational states. We also derive the general formulae for the screening and resonance enhancement of oscillating electric field in polyatomic molecules. Possible applications of these results include nuclear electric dipole moment measurements and stimulation of nuclear reactions by laser light.