Quantum Rolling Friction
Abstract
An atom moving in a vacuum at constant velocity and parallel to a surface experiences a frictional force induced by the dissipative interaction with the quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. We show that the combination of nonequilibrium dynamics, anomalous Doppler effect and spin-momentum locking of light mediates an intriguing interplay between the atom's translational and rotational motion. In turn, this deeply affects the drag force in a way that is reminiscent of classical rolling friction. Our fully non-Markovian and nonequilibrium description reveals counterintuitive features characterizing the atom's velocity-dependent rotational dynamics. These results prompt interesting directions for tuning the interaction and for investigating nonequilibrium dynamics as well as the properties of confined light.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1809.05915,
title = {Quantum Rolling Friction},
author = {F. Intravaia and M. Oelschläger and D. Reiche and D. A. R. Dalvit and K. Busch},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1809.05915},
year = {2019}
}
Comments
6 pages, 2 figures