1,257 research outputs found
Fluctuations of the Retarded Van der Waals Force
The retarded Van der Waals force between a polarizable particle and a
perfectly conducting plate is re-examined. The expression for this force given
by Casimir and Polder represents a mean force, but there are large fluctuations
around this mean value on short time scales which are of the same order of
magnitude as the mean force itself. However, these fluctuations occur on time
scales which are typically of the order of the light travel time between the
atom and the plate. As a consequence, they will not be observed in an
experiment which measures the force averaged over a much longer time. In the
large time limit, the magnitude of the mean squared velocity of a test particle
due to this fluctuating Van der Waals force approaches a constant, and is
similar to a Brownian motion of a test particle in an thermal bath with an
effective temperature. However the fluctuations are not isotropic in this case,
and the shift in the mean square velocity components can even be negative. We
interpret this negative shift to correspond to a reduction in the velocity
spread of a wavepacket. The force fluctuations discussed in this paper are
special case of the more general problem of stress tensor fluctuations. These
are of interest in a variety of areas fo physics, including gravity theory.
Thus the effects of Van der Waals force fluctuations serve as a useful model
for better understanding quantum effects in gravity theory.Comment: 14 pages, no figure
Dynamical Casimir Effect in a Leaky Cavity at Finite Temperature
The phenomenon of particle creation within an almost resonantly vibrating
cavity with losses is investigated for the example of a massless scalar field
at finite temperature. A leaky cavity is designed via the insertion of a
dispersive mirror into a larger ideal cavity (the reservoir). In the case of
parametric resonance the rotating wave approximation allows for the
construction of an effective Hamiltonian. The number of produced particles is
then calculated using response theory as well as a non-perturbative approach.
In addition we study the associated master equation and briefly discuss the
effects of detuning. The exponential growth of the particle numbers and the
strong enhancement at finite temperatures found earlier for ideal cavities turn
out to be essentially preserved. The relevance of the results for experimental
tests of quantum radiation via the dynamical Casimir effect is addressed.
Furthermore the generalization to the electromagnetic field is outlined.Comment: 48 pages, 8 figures typos corrected & references added and update
The Magnetic Casimir Effect
The Casimir effect results from alterations of the zero-point electromagnetic
energy introduced by boundary-conditions. For ferromagnetic layers separated by
vacuum (or a dielectric) such boundary-conditions are influenced by the
magneto-optical Kerr effect. We will show that this gives rise to a long-range
magnetic interaction and discuss the effect for two different configurations
(magnetization parallel and perpendicular to the layers). Analytical
expressions are derived for two models and compared to numerical calculations.
Numerical calculations of the effect for Fe are also presented and the
possibility of an experimental observation of the Casimir magnetic interaction
is discussed
Events in a Non-Commutative Space-Time
We treat the events determined by a quantum physical state in a
noncommutative space-time, generalizing the analogous treatment in the usual
Minkowski space-time based on positive-operator-valued measures (POVMs). We
consider in detail the model proposed by Snyder in 1947 and calculate the POVMs
defined on the real line that describe the measurement of a single coordinate.
The approximate joint measurement of all the four space-time coordinates is
described in terms of a generalized Wigner function (GWF). We derive lower
bounds for the dispersion of the coordinate observables and discuss the
covariance of the model under the Poincare' group. The unusual transformation
law of the coordinates under space-time translations is interpreted as a
failure of the absolute character of the concept of space-time coincidence. The
model shows that a minimal length is compatible with Lorents covariance.Comment: 13 pages, revtex. Introductory part shortened and some arguments made
more clea
Temperature dependence of the Casimir effect between metallic mirrors
We calculate the Casimir force and free energy for plane metallic mirrors at
non-zero temperature. Numerical evaluations are given with temperature and
conductivity effects treated simultaneously. The results are compared with the
approximation where both effects are treated independently and the corrections
simply multiplied. The deviation between the exact and approximated results
takes the form of a temperature dependent function for which an analytical
expression is given. The knowledge of this function allows simple and accurate
estimations at the % level.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, uses RevTe
Multispacecraft measurement of anisotropic correlation functions in solar wind turbulence
Published versio
Random Matrix Theory and Classical Statistical Mechanics. I. Vertex Models
A connection between integrability properties and general statistical
properties of the spectra of symmetric transfer matrices of the asymmetric
eight-vertex model is studied using random matrix theory (eigenvalue spacing
distribution and spectral rigidity). For Yang-Baxter integrable cases,
including free-fermion solutions, we have found a Poissonian behavior, whereas
level repulsion close to the Wigner distribution is found for non-integrable
models. For the asymmetric eight-vertex model, however, the level repulsion can
also disappearand the Poisson distribution be recovered on (non Yang--Baxter
integrable) algebraic varieties, the so-called disorder varieties. We also
present an infinite set of algebraic varieties which are stable under the
action of an infinite discrete symmetry group of the parameter space. These
varieties are possible loci for free parafermions. Using our numerical
criterion we have tested the generic calculability of the model on these
algebraic varieties.Comment: 25 pages, 7 PostScript Figure
Square lattice Ising model susceptibility: Series expansion method and differential equation for
In a previous paper (J. Phys. A {\bf 37} (2004) 9651-9668) we have given the
Fuchsian linear differential equation satisfied by , the
``three-particle'' contribution to the susceptibility of the isotropic square
lattice Ising model. This paper gives the details of the calculations (with
some useful tricks and tools) allowing one to obtain long series in polynomial
time. The method is based on series expansion in the variables that appear in
the -dimensional integrals representing the -particle contribution to
the isotropic square lattice Ising model susceptibility . The
integration rules are straightforward due to remarkable formulas we derived for
these variables. We obtain without any numerical approximation as
a fully integrated series in the variable , where , with the conventional Ising model coupling constant. We also
give some perspectives and comments on these results.Comment: 28 pages, no figur
Single-Pion Production in pp Collisions at 0.95 GeV/c (II)
The single-pion production reactions , and
were measured at a beam momentum of 0.95 GeV/c (
400 MeV) using the short version of the COSY-TOF spectrometer. The central
calorimeter provided particle identification, energy determination and neutron
detection in addition to time-of-flight and angle measurements from other
detector parts. Thus all pion production channels were recorded with 1-4
overconstraints. Main emphasis is put on the presentation and discussion of the
channel, since the results on the other channels have already been
published previously. The total and differential cross sections obtained are
compared to theoretical calculations. In contrast to the channel we
find in the channel a strong influence of the excitation
already at this energy close to threshold. In particular we find a dependence in the pion angular distribution, typical for a
pure s-channel excitation and identical to that observed in the
channel. Since the latter is understood by a s-channel resonance in
the partial wave, we discuss an analogous scenario for the
channel
Dynamical Casimir effect without boundary conditions
The moving-mirror problem is microscopically formulated without invoking the
external boundary conditions. The moving mirrors are described by the quantized
matter field interacting with the photon field, forming dynamical cavity
polaritons: photons in the cavity are dressed by electrons in the moving
mirrors. The effective Hamiltonian for the polariton is derived, and
corrections to the results based on the external boundary conditions are
discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure
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