The Mechanical Response of Vacuum
Quantum Physics
2009-10-30 v1 Statistical Mechanics
Abstract
A path integral formulation is developed for the dynamic Casimir effect. It allows us to study arbitrary deformations in space and time of the perfectly reflecting (conducting) boundaries of a cavity. The mechanical response of the intervening vacuum is calculated to linear order in the frequency-wavevector plane. For a single corrugated plate we find a correction to mass at low frequencies, and an effective shear viscosity at high frequencies; both anisotropic. For two plates there is resonant dissipation for all frequencies greater than the lowest optical mode of the cavity.
Cite
@article{arxiv.quant-ph/9701005,
title = {The Mechanical Response of Vacuum},
author = {Ramin Golestanian and Mehran Kardar},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/9701005},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
REVTEX, 4 pages, 1 figure