The bipolaron in the strong coupling limit

Abstract

The bipolaron are two electrons coupled to the elastic deformations of an ionic crystal. We study this system in the Fröhlich approximation. If the Coulomb repulsion dominates, the lowest energy states are two well separated polarons. Otherwise the electrons form a bound pair. We prove the validity of the Pekar-Tomasevich energy functional in the strong coupling limit, yielding estimates on the coupling parameters for which the binding energy is strictly positive. Under the condition of a strictly positive binding energy we prove the existence of a ground state at fixed total momentum $P$, provided $P$ is not too large.