Related papers: Quantum Vacuum in Matter
A rigorous treatment of light-matter interactions typically requires an interacting quantum field theory. However, most applications of interest are handled using classical or semiclassical models, which are valid only when quantum-field…
We investigate the influence of the vacuum fluctuations of a background electric field over a charged test particle in the presence of a perfectly reflecting flat wall. A switching function connecting different stages of the system is…
Quantum mechanics ascribes to the ground state of the electromagnetic radiation zero-point electric field fluctuations that permeate empty space at all frequencies. No energy can be extracted from the ground state of a system and,…
The power spectrum of finite-temperature quantum electromagnetic fluctuations produced by elementary charge carriers under the influence of external electric field is investigated. It is found that under the combined action of the photon…
There is currently great interest in the strong coupling between the quantized photon field of a cavity and electronic or other degrees of freedom in materials. A major goal is the creation of novel collective states entangling photons with…
Astronomical observations indicate an accelerated cosmic expansion, the cause of which is explained by the action of `dark energy'. Here we show that in discrete expanding space-time, only a tiny fraction of the vacuum fluctuations can…
We propose that dark matter is not yet another new particle in nature, but that it is a remnant of quantum gravitational effects on known fields. We arrive at this possibility in an indirect and surprising manner: by considering retarded,…
Quantum mechanics predicts the occurrence of random electromagnetic field fluctuations, or virtual photons, in vacuum. The exchange of virtual photons between two bodies in relative motion could lead to non-contact quantum vacuum friction…
We investigate the phenomenon of quantum radiation - i.e. the conversion of (virtual) quantum fluctuations into (real) particles induced by dynamical external conditions - for an initial thermal equilibrium state. For a resonantly vibrating…
Standard General Relativity assumes that, in the absence of classical matter sources, spacetime is empty. This chapter considers and analyses the new behaviours of the gravitational field that appear when one substitutes this emptiness by a…
The light-matter interaction can be utilized to qualitatively alter physical properties of materials. Recent theoretical and experimental studies have explored this possibility of controlling matter by light based on driving many-body…
Many-body phenomena in quantum materials emerge from the interplay among a broad continuum of electronic states, and controlling these interactions is critical for engineering novel phases. One promising approach exploits fluctuations of…
We argue that it is a fluctuational underpinning of the Quantum vacuum which on the one hand gives a stochastic character to the conservation laws, and on the other is required for explaining the recently observed acceleration of the…
The vacuum fluctuations that induce the transitions and the thermalisation of a uniformly accelerated two level atom are studied in detail. Their energy content is revealed through the weak measurement formalism of Aharonov et al. It is…
It is shown that quantum fluctuations due to a nontrivial gravitational background in the flat radiation dominated universe can play an important cosmological role generating nonvanishing cosmological global charge, e.g. baryon number,…
Besides their stunning physical properties which are unmatched in a classical world, squeezed states of electromagnetic radiation bear advanced application potentials in quantum information systems and precision metrology, including…
At the primary level of reality as described by quantum field theory, a fundamental particle like an electron represents a stable, discrete, propagating excited state of its underlying quantum field. QFT also tells us that the lowest vacuum…
We investigate electron paring in a two-dimensional electron system mediated by vacuum fluctuations inside a nanoplasmonic terahertz cavity. We show that the structured cavity vacuum can induce long-range attractive interactions between…
General relativity describes the gravitational field geometrically and in a self-interacting way because it couples to all forms of energy, including its own. Both features make finding a quantum theory difficult, yet it is important in the…
The Casimir effect, which predicts the emergence of an attractive force between two parallel, highly reflecting plates in vacuum, plays a vital role in various fields of physics, from quantum field theory and cosmology to nanophotonics and…