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An intriguing consequence of quantum field theory is that vacuum is not empty space; it is full of quantum fluctuating electromagnetic fields, or virtual photons, corresponding to their zero-point energy, even though the average number of…
Quantum vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field in empty space seem not to produce observable effects over the motion of a charged test particle. However, when a change in the background vacuum state is implemented, as for instance…
The contribution from quantum vacuum fluctuations of a real massless scalar field to the motion of a test particle that interacts with the field in the presence of a perfectly reflecting flat boundary is here investigated. There is no…
Vacuum quantum fluctuations are an inescapable and fundamental feature of modern physics. By integrating cavity-enhanced or surface-modified vacuum quantum fluctuations with low-dimensional materials, a new paradigm-vacuumronics-emerges,…
The static Casimir effect describes an attractive force between two conducting plates, due to quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic (EM) field in the intervening space. {\it Thermal fluctuations} of correlated fluids (such as critical…
We show a break down of the conventional partition of optical states into its radiative and non-radiative parts. Large divergence of experimental observations from current theory in the case of emitters interacting with fully absorbing…
A model for observable effects of electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations is presented. The model involves a probe pulse which traverses a slab of nonlinear optical material with a nonzero second order polarizability. We argue that the pulse…
When the vacuum state of a scalar or electromagnetic field is modified by the presence of a reflecting boundary, an interacting test particle undergoes velocity fluctuations. Such effect is regarded as a sort of quantum analog of the…
We describe how complex fluctuations of the local environment of an optically active quantum dot can leave rich fingerprints in its emission spectrum. A new feature, termed "Fluctuation Induced Luminescence" (FIL), is observed to arise from…
The vacuum fluctuations of all quantum fields filling the universe are supposed to leave enormous energy and pressure contributions which are incompatible with observations. It has been recently suggested that, when the effective nature of…
The imposition of boundary conditions upon a quantized field can lead to singular energy densities on the boundary. We treat the boundaries as quantum mechanical objects with a nonzero position uncertainty, and show that the singular energy…
The effects of electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations with the boundary on charged particles is investigated. They may be observed via an electron interference experiment near the conducting plate, where boundary effects of vacuum fluctuations…
One of the most important insights of quantum field theory is that electromagnetic fields must fluctuate. Even in the vacuum state, the electric and magnetic fields have a nonzero variance, leading to ubiquitous effects such as spontaneous…
Quantum vacuum fluctuations give rise to effective non-linear interactions between electromagnetic fields. A prominent signature of quantum vacuum nonlinearities driven by macroscopic fields are signal photons differing in characteristic…
We give a vacuum description with zero-point density for virtual fluctuations. One of the goals is to explain the origin of the vacuum permittivity and permeability and to calculate their values. In particular, we improve on existing…
Recent progress in electro-optic sampling has allowed direct access to the fluctuations of the electromagnetic ground state. Here, we present a theoretical formalism that allows for an in-depth characterisation and interpretation of such…
Atom-field interactions, induced by the vacuum of the electromagnetic field, exhibit a variety of fundamental phenomena and effects. In this paper, we study the electromagnetically induced atomic grating due to the vacuum state of the…
We investigate the role of quantum effects (e.g. zero-point energy fluctuations) in the physics of nanotube- and nanowire-based electromechanical sensors as discussed in a recent article [Postma et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 223105 (2005)].…
Quantum fluctuations are ubiquitous in physics. Ranging from conventional examples like the harmonic oscillator to intricate theories on the origin of the universe, they alter virtually all aspects of matter -- including superconductivity,…
The focusing of the vacuum modes of a quantized field by a parabolic mirror is investigated. We use a geometric optics approximation to calculate the energy density and mean squared field averages for scalar and electromagnetic fields near…