We propose an experiment for generating and detecting vacuum-induced dissipative motion. A high frequency mechanical resonator driven in resonance is expected to dissipate energy in quantum vacuum via photon emission. The photons are stored in a high quality electromagnetic cavity and detected through their interaction with ultracold alkali-metal atoms prepared in an inverted population of hyperfine states. Superradiant amplification of the generated photons results in a detectable radio-frequency signal temporally distinguishable from the expected background.
@article{arxiv.0705.2895,
title = {Detectability of dissipative motion in quantum vacuum via superradiance},
author = {Woo-Joong Kim and James Hayden Brownell and Roberto Onofrio},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0705.2895},
year = {2010}
}