Permanently rotating devices: extracting rotation from quantum vacuum fluctuations?
Abstract
We propose a set of devices of simple geometrical design which may exhibit a permanent rotation due to quantum (vacuum) fluctuations. These objects - which have no moving parts - impose certain boundary conditions on quantum fluctuations thus affecting their vacuum energy similarly to the standard Casimir effect. The boundary conditions are chosen in such a way that the vacuum energy for a static device is larger compared to the energy of the vacuum fluctuations in a state when the device rotates about a certain axis. The optimal frequency of rotation is determined by geometry and moment of inertia of the device. We illustrate our ideas in a vacuum of a massless scalar field theory using simplest Dirichlet-type boundary conditions. We also propose an experimental setup to verify the existence of the rotational vacuum effect.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1203.6588,
title = {Permanently rotating devices: extracting rotation from quantum vacuum fluctuations?},
author = {M. N. Chernodub},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1203.6588},
year = {2012}
}
Comments
5 pages, 8 figures; comments are welcome