Related papers: The energetics of quantum vacuum friction: Field f…
As a second paper in series with arXiv:2108.01539, we discuss here quantum vacuum friction on an intrinsically dissipative particle. The friction arises not only from the field fluctuations but also from the dipole fluctuations intrinsic to…
When two or more objects move relative to one another in vacuum, they experience a drag force which, at zero temperature, usually goes under the name of quantum friction. This contactless non-conservative interaction is mediated by the…
We use general concepts of statistical mechanics to compute the quantum frictional force on an atom moving at constant velocity above a planar surface. We derive the zero-temperature frictional force using a non-equilibrium…
Dispersion forces between neutral material bodies are due to fluctuations of the polarization of the bodies. For bodies in equilibrium these forces are often referred to as Casimir-Lifshitz forces. For bodies in relative motion, in addition…
Quantum friction, the electromagnetic fluctuation-induced frictional force decelerating an atom which moves past a macroscopic dielectric body, has so far eluded experimental evidence despite more than three decades of theoretical studies.…
We investigate the frictional forces due to quantum fluctuations acting on a small sphere rotating near a surface. At zero temperature, we find the frictional force near a surface to be several orders of magnitude larger than that for the…
We investigate the nonconservative open-system dynamics of an atom in a generic complex structured electromagnetic environment at temperature $T$. In such systems, when the atom moves along a translation-invariant axis of the environment, a…
Thermodynamic principles are often deceptively simple and yet surprisingly powerful. We show how a simple rule, such as the net flow of energy in and out of a moving atom under nonequilibrium steady state condition, can expose the…
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…
We study the frictional torque acting on particles rotating in empty space. At zero temperature, vacuum friction transforms mechanical energy into light emission and produces particle heating. However, particle cooling relative to the…
Friction is usually a very complicated process. It appears in its most elementary form when two flat surfaces separated by vacuum gap are sliding relative to each other at zero Kelvin and the friction is generated by the relative movement…
We consider a scalar QED model for the frictional force and the momentum fluctuations of a polarizable particle in thermal equilibrium with radiation or in hyperbolic motion in a vacuum. In the former case the loss of particle kinetic…
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…
We calculate tangential forces applied to a ground state atom (nanoparticle) moving with nonrelativistic velocity parallel to the surface of Drude -modelled or Lorentz -modelled half -space using the formalism of fluctuation…
Quantum fields possess zero-point or vacuum fluctuations which induce mechanical effects, namely generalised Casimir forces, on any scatterer. Symmetries of vacuum therefore raise fundamental questions when confronted with the principle of…
A neutral but polarizable particle at rest near a perfectly conducting plate feels a force normal to the surface of the plate, which tends to pull the particle towards the plate. This is the well-known Casimir-Polder force, which has long…
Zero-point quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic vacuum create the widely known London-van der Waals attractive force between two atoms. Recently, there was a revived interest in the interaction of rotating matter with the quantum…
As revealed by space-time probing, mechanics and field theory come out as complementary descriptions for motions in space-time. In particular, quantum fields exert a radiation pressure on scatterers which results in mechanical effects that…
The actual value of the quantum vacuum energy density is generally regarded as irrelevant in non-gravitational physics. However, this paper gives a non-gravitational system where this value does have physical significance. The system is a…
In quantum theory the vacuum is defined as a state of minimum energy that is devoid of particles but still not completely empty. It is perhaps more surprising that its definition depends on the geometry of the system and on the trajectory…