Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Gauge invariance, current conservation, and GIAO's

1973; American Institute of Physics; Volume: 58; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1063/1.1679398

1520-9032

Saul T. Epstein,

Mechanical and Optical Resonators

The well-known relationship between gauge invariance and current conservation is exhibited within the usual quantum mechanical formalism. It is then shown that the use of Gauge Invariant Atomic Orbitals does not necessarily lead to the expected current conservation. The reason is found to lie in the constrained nature of the gauge invariance which is provided by the use of GIAO's. It is concluded that this invariance is, of itself, no argument in favor of their use.