Sonoluminescence as a QED vacuum effect. I: The Physical Scenario
Stefano Liberati, Matt Visser, Francesco Belgiorno, Dennis Sciama
备注：
25 pages, LaTeX 209, ReV-TeX 3.2, eight figures. Minor revisions: Typos fixed, references updated, minor changes in numerical estimates, minor changes in some figures
Several years ago Schwinger proposed a physical mechanism for sonoluminescence in terms of changes in the properties of the quantum-electrodynamic (QED) vacuum state. This mechanism is most often phrased in terms of changes in the Casimir Energy: changes in the distribution of zero-point energies and has recently been the subject of considerable controversy. The present paper further develops this quantum-vacuum approach to sonoluminescence: We calculate Bogolubov coefficients relating the QED vacuum states in the presence of a homogeneous medium of changing dielectric constant. In this way we derive an estimate for the spectrum, number of photons, and total energy emitted. We emphasize the importance of rapid spatio-temporal changes in refractive indices, and the delicate sensitivity of the emitted radiation to the precise dependence of the refractive index as a function of wavenumber, pressure, temperature, and noble gas admixture. Although the physics of the dynamical Casimir effect is a universal phenomenon of QED, specific experimental features are encoded in the condensed matter physics controlling the details of the refractive index. This calculation places rather tight constraints on the possibility of using the dynamical Casimir effect as an explanation for sonoluminescence, and we are hopeful that this scenario will soon be amenable to direct experimental probes. In a companion paper we discuss the technical complications due to finite-size effects, but for reasons of clarity in this paper we confine attention to bulk effects.
We study all-optical signatures of the effective nonlinear couplings among electromagnetic fields in the quantum vacuum, using the collision of two focused high-intensity laser pulses as an example. The experimental signatures of quantum vacuum nonlinearities are encoded in signal photons, whose kinematic and polarization properties differ from the photons constituting the macroscopic laser fields. We implement an efficient numerical algorithm allowing for the theoretical investigation of such signatures in realistic field configurations accessible in experiment. This algorithm is based on a v…
Some effects of vacuum polarization in QED due to the presence of field sources are investigated. We focus on effects with no counter-part in Maxwell electrodynamics. The the Uehling interaction energy between two stationary point-like charges is calculated exactly in terms of Meijer-G functions. Effects induced on a hydrogen atom by the vacuum polarization in the vicinity of a Dirac string are considered. We also calculate the interaction between two parallel Dirac strings and corrections to the energy levels of a quantum particle constrained to move on a ring circumventing a solenoid.
The problem of longitudinal oscillations of an electric field and a charge polarization density in QED vacuum is considered. Within the framework of semiclassical analysis, we calculate time-periodic solutions of bosonized (1+1)-dimensional QED (massive Schwinger model). Applying the Bohr--Sommerfeld quantization condition, we determine the mass spectrum of charge-zero bound states (plasmons) which correspond in quantum theory to the found classical solutions. We show that the existence of such plasmons does not contradict any fundamental physical laws and study qualitatively their excitation …
Considering the intrinsic nonlinearity in a nanomechanical resonator coupled to a charge qubit, vacuum Rabi splitting effect is studied in a nanomechanical QED (qubit-resonator) system. A driven nonlinear Jaynes-Cummings model describes the dynamics of this qubit-resonator system. Using quantum regression theorem and master equation approach, we have calculated the two-time correlation spectrum analytically. In the weak driving limit, these analytical results clarify the influence of the driving strength and nonlinearity parameter on the correlation spectrum. Also, numerical calculations confi…
Quantum electro dynamics (QED) comprises virtual particle production and thus gives rise to a refractive index of the vacuum larger than unity in the presence of a magnetic field. This predicted effect has not been measured to date, even after considerable effort of a number of experiments. It has been proposed by other authors to possibly use gravitational wave detectors for such vacuum QED measurements, and we give this proposal some new consideration in this paper. In particular we look at possible source field magnet designs and further constraints on the implementation at a gravitational …
This tutorial introduces the theory of macroscopic QED, where a Hamiltonian is found that represents the electromagnetic field interacting with a dispersive, dissipative material. Using a one dimensional theory as motivation, we build up the more cumbersome three dimensional theory. Then considering the extension of this theory to moving materials, where the material response changes due to both the Doppler effect and the mixing of electric and magnetic responses, it is shown that one gets the theory of quantum electromagnetic forces for free. We finish by applying macroscopic QED to reproduce…
Comment on `Vacuum Rabi Splitting in a Semiconductor Circuit QED System' by Toida et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 066802 - Published 6 February 2013
Toida等人在他们最近的文章[Phys. Rev. Lett. 110，066802（2013）]，他们“报告了在与超导共面波导（CPW）谐振器耦合的GaAs/AlGaAs双量子点（DQD）电荷量子位中直接观察到真空拉比分裂”。在这篇评论中，我们挑战了他们论文中的主要主张，并表明他们的结果：a）没有提供任何真空拉比振荡的证据，b）没有提供任何真空拉比分裂的直接证据。
Several groups are carrying out experiments to observe and measure vacuum magnetic birefringence, predicted by Quantum Electrodynamics (QED). We have started running the new PVLAS apparatus installed in Ferrara, Italy, and have measured a noise floor value for the unitary field magnetic birefringence of vacuum $Δn_u^{\rm (vac)}= (4\pm 20) \times 10^{-23}$ T$^{-2}$ (the error represents a 1$σ$ deviation). This measurement is compatible with zero and hence represents a new limit on vacuum magnetic birefringence deriving from non linear electrodynamics. This result reduces to a factor 50 the gap …
In a recent publication [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 143602] we have shown using a QED approach that, in the presence of a magnetic field, the quantum vacuum coupled to a chiral molecule provides a kinetic momentum directed along the magnetic field. Here we explain the physical mechanisms which operate in the transfer of momentum from the vacuum to the molecule. We show that the variation of the molecular kinetic energy originates from the magnetic energy associated with the vacuum correction to the magnetization of the molecule. We carry out a semiclassical calculation of the vacuum momentum and co…
