3,843 research outputs found
Sonoluminescence: Bogolubov coefficients for the QED vacuum of a time-dependent dielectric bubble
We extend Schwinger's ideas regarding sonoluminescence by explicitly
calculating the Bogolubov coefficients relating the QED vacuum states
associated with changes in a dielectric bubble. Sudden (non-adiabatic) changes
in the refractive index lead to an efficient production of real photons with a
broadband spectrum, and a high-frequency cutoff that arises from the asymptotic
behaviour of the dielectric constant.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 2 figures (.eps file) included with graphics.sty.
Major revisions: physical scenario clarified, additional numerical estimate
Relativistic, Causal Description of Quantum Entanglement and Gravity
A possible solution to the problem of providing a spacetime description of
the transmission of signals for quantum entangled states is obtained by using a
bimetric spacetime structure, in which quantum entanglement measurements alter
the structure of the classical relativity spacetime. A bimetric gravity theory
locally has two lightcones, one which describes classical special relativity
and a larger lightcone which allows light signals to communicate quantum
information between entangled states, after a measurement device detects one of
the entangled states. The theory would remove the tension that exists between
macroscopic classical, local gravity and macroscopic nonlocal quantum
mechanics.Comment: 12 pages. LaTex file. 1 figure. Additional text. To be published in
Int. J. Mod. Phys.
Sonoluminescence as a QED vacuum effect. II: Finite Volume Effects
In a companion paper [quant-ph/9904013] we have investigated several
variations of Schwinger's proposed mechanism for sonoluminescence. We
demonstrated that any realistic version of Schwinger's mechanism must depend on
extremely rapid (femtosecond) changes in refractive index, and discussed ways
in which this might be physically plausible. To keep that discussion tractable,
the technical computations in that paper were limited to the case of a
homogeneous dielectric medium. In this paper we investigate the additional
complications introduced by finite-volume effects. The basic physical scenario
remains the same, but we now deal with finite spherical bubbles, and so must
decompose the electromagnetic field into Spherical Harmonics and Bessel
functions. We demonstrate how to set up the formalism for calculating Bogolubov
coefficients in the sudden approximation, and show that we qualitatively retain
the results previously obtained using the homogeneous-dielectric (infinite
volume) approximation.Comment: 23 pages, LaTeX 209, ReV-TeX 3.2, five figure
Schwinger's Dynamical Casimir Effect: Bulk Energy Contribution
Schwinger's Dynamical Casimir Effect is one of several candidate explanations
for sonoluminescence. Recently, several papers have claimed that Schwinger's
estimate of the Casimir energy involved is grossly inaccurate. In this letter,
we show that these calculations omit the crucial volume term. When the missing
term is correctly included one finds full agreement with Schwinger's result for
the Dynamical Casimir Effect. We have nothing new to say about sonoluminescence
itself except to affirm that the Casimir effect is energetically adequate as a
candidate explanation.Comment: 6 pages. Uses LaTeX with RevTeX package in two-column forma
A modified Schwinger's formula for the Casimir effect
After briefly reviewing how the (proper-time) Schwinger's formula works for
computing the Casimir energy in the case of "scalar electrodynamics" where the
boundary conditions are dictated by two perfectly conducting parallel plates
with separation "a" in the Z-axis, we propose a slightly modification in the
previous approach based on an analytical continuation method. As we will see,
for the case at hand our formula does not need the use of Poisson summation to
get a (renormalized) finite result.Comment: 6 pages, DFTUZ/93/14 (a short version will appear in the Letters in
Math. Phys.
Sonoluminescence as a QED vacuum effect: Probing Schwinger's proposal
Several years ago Schwinger proposed a physical mechanism for
sonoluminescence in terms of photon production due to changes in the properties
of the quantum-electrodynamic (QED) vacuum arising from a collapsing dielectric
bubble. This mechanism can be re-phrased in terms of the Casimir effect and has
recently been the subject of considerable controversy. The present paper probes
Schwinger's suggestion in detail: Using the sudden approximation we calculate
Bogolubov coefficients relating the QED vacuum in the presence of the expanded
bubble to that in the presence of the collapsed bubble. In this way we derive
an estimate for the spectrum and total energy emitted. We verify that in the
sudden approximation there is an efficient production of photons, and further
that the main contribution to this dynamic Casimir effect comes from a volume
term, as per Schwinger's original calculation. However, we also demonstrate
that the timescales required to implement Schwinger's original suggestion are
not physically relevant to sonoluminescence. Although Schwinger was correct in
his assertion that changes in the zero-point energy lead to photon production,
nevertheless his original model is not appropriate for sonoluminescence. In
other works (see quant-ph/9805023, quant-ph/9904013, quant-ph/9904018,
quant-ph/9905034) we have developed a variant of Schwinger's model that is
compatible with the physically required timescales.Comment: 18 pages, ReV_TeX 3.2, 9 figures. Major revisions: This document is
now limited to providing a probe of Schwinger's original suggestion for
sonoluminescence. For details on our own variant of Schwinger's ideas see
quant-ph/9805023, quant-ph/9904013, quant-ph/9904018, quant-ph/990503
Can the QCD Effective Charge Be Symmetrical in the Euclidean and the Minkowskian Regions?
We study a possible symmetrical behavior of the effective charges defined in
the Euclidean and Minkowskian regions and prove that such symmetry is
inconsistent with the causality principle.Comment: 5 pages, REVTe
Schwinger, Pegg and Barnett approaches and a relationship between angular and Cartesian quantum descriptions II: Phase Spaces
Following the discussion -- in state space language -- presented in a
preceding paper, we work on the passage from the phase space description of a
degree of freedom described by a finite number of states (without classical
counterpart) to one described by an infinite (and continuously labeled) number
of states. With that it is possible to relate an original Schwinger idea to the
Pegg and Barnett approach to the phase problem. In phase space language, this
discussion shows that one can obtain the Weyl-Wigner formalism, for both
Cartesian {\em and} angular coordinates, as limiting elements of the discrete
phase space formalism.Comment: Subm. to J. Phys A: Math and Gen. 7 pages, sequel of quant-ph/0108031
(which is to appear on J.Phys A: Math and Gen
Quantum radiation in external background fields
A canonical formalism is presented which allows for investigations of quantum
radiation induced by localized, smooth disturbances of classical background
fields by means of a perturbation theory approach. For massless,
non-selfinteracting quantum fields at zero temperature we demonstrate that the
low-energy part of the spectrum of created particles exhibits a non-thermal
character. Applied to QED in varying dielectrics the response theory approach
facilitates to study two distinct processes contributing to the production of
photons: the squeezing effect due to space-time varying properties of the
medium and of the velocity effect due to its motion. The generalization of this
approach to finite temperatures as well as the relation to sonoluminescence is
indicated.Comment: 20 page
Magnetic Permeability of Constrained Fermionic Vacuum
We obtain using Schwinger's proper time approach the Casimir-Euler-Heisenberg
effective action of fermion fluctuations for the case of an applied magnetic
field. We implement here the compactification of one space dimension into a
circle through anti-periodic boundary condition. Aside of higher order
non-linear field effects we identify a novel contribution to the vacuum
permeability. These contributions are exceedingly small for normal
electromagnetism due to the smallness of the electron Compton wavelength
compared to the size of the compactified dimension, if we take the latter as
the typical size of laboratory cavities, but their presence is thought
provoking, also considering the context of strong interactions.Comment: 8 pages, LaTex, 1 postscript figure, Phys. Let. B in press, slight
text revisions, references adde
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