Related papers: Constraints on stable equilibria with fluctuation-…
We study the elastic properties of a two-dimensional fluctuating surface whose area density is allowed to deviate from its optimal (Schulman) value. The behavior of such a surface is determined by an interplay between the area-dependent…
This study examines the stability of a flexible material interface between two fluids of the same viscosity in interaction with a free surface. When the layers are motionless, we provide evidence for the onset of a novel instability by…
It was shown by Garriga and Vilenkin that the circular shape of nucleated cosmic strings, of zero loop-energy in de Sitter space, is stable in the sense that the ratio of the mean fluctuation amplitude to the loop radius is constant. This…
We discuss non-equilibrium extensions of the Casimir force (due to electromagnetic fluctuations), where the objects as well as the environment are held at different temperatures. While the formalism we develop is quite general, we focus on…
Electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations have observable consequences, like the Casimir force between mirrors in vacuum. This force is now measured with good accuracy and agreement with theory when the effect of imperfect reflection of mirrors…
The positive energy theorem precludes the possibility of Minkowski flat space decaying by any mechanism. In certain circumstances, however, large quantum fluctuations of the gravitational field could arise---not only at the Planck scale,…
We study long-range interacting electrons on the triangular lattice using mixed quantum/classical simulations going beyond the usual classical descriptions of the lattice Coulomb fluid. Our results in the strong interaction limit indicate…
In this article we address the problem of Euler's buckling instability in a charged semi-flexible polymer that is under the action of a compressive force. We consider this instability as a phase transition and investigate the role of…
We demonstrate that the fluctuation theorem of Gallavotti and Cohen can be used to characterize the class of dynamics that arises in nonthermal systems of collectively interacting particles driven over random quenched disorder. By observing…
We study the spatial fluctuations of the Casimir-Polder force experienced by an atom or a small sphere moved above a metallic plate at fixed separation distance. We demonstrate that unlike the mean force, the magnitude of these fluctuations…
We study the effects of a static and uniform magnetic field on the evolution of energy density fluctuations present in a medium. By numerically solving the relativistic Boltzmann-Vlasov equation within the relaxation time approximation, we…
In this work, we investigated the electroweak vacuum instability during or after inflation. In the inflationary Universe, i.e., de Sitter space, the vacuum field fluctuations $\left< {\delta \phi }^{ 2 } \right>$ enlarge in proportion to…
An equilibrium statistical system is known to be stable if the fluctuations of global observables are normal, when their dispersions are proportional to the number of particles, or to the system volume. A general theorem is rigorously…
We discuss materials which owe their stability to external fields. These include: 1) external electric or magnetic fields, and 2) quantum vacuum fluctuations in these fields induced by suitable boundary conditions (the Casimir effect).…
The Casimir force provides a striking example of the effects of quantum fluctuations in a mesoscopic system. Because it arises from the objects' electromagnetic response, the necessary calculations in quantum field theory are most naturally…
We discuss an extension of the fluctuation theorem to stochastic models that, in the limit of zero external drive, are not able to equilibrate with their environment, extending results presented by Sellitto (cond-mat/9809186). We show that…
We explore fluctuation relations in a periodically driven micromechanical torsional oscillator. In the linear regime where the modulation is weak, we verify that the ratio of the work variance to the mean work is constant, consistent with…
We review modern achievements and problems in physics of the van der Waals and Casimir forces which arise due to zero-point and thermal fluctuations of the electromagnetic field between closely spaced material surfaces. This subject…
We study fluctuation electromagnetic interaction between small neutral rotating particle and polarizable surface. The attraction force, friction torque and heating are produced by the particle polarization and fluctuating near-field of the…
Bulk properties of equilibrium liquids are a manifestation of intermolecular forces. Here, we show how these forces imprint on dynamical fluctuations in the Lyapunov exponents for simple fluids with and without attractive forces. While the…