Related papers: Sonoluminescence and the QED vacuum
Several years ago Schwinger proposed a physical mechanism for sonoluminescence in terms of changes in the properties of the quantum-electrodynamic (QED) vacuum state. This mechanism is most often phrased in terms of changes in the Casimir…
We extend Schwinger's ideas regarding sonoluminescence by explicitly calculating the Bogolubov coefficients relating the QED vacuum states associated with changes in a dielectric bubble. Sudden (non-adiabatic) changes in the refractive…
Several years ago Schwinger proposed a physical mechanism for sonoluminescence in terms of photon production due to changes in the properties of the quantum-electrodynamic (QED) vacuum arising from a collapsing dielectric bubble. This…
In a companion paper [quant-ph/9904013] we have investigated several variations of Schwinger's proposed mechanism for sonoluminescence. We demonstrated that any realistic version of Schwinger's mechanism must depend on extremely rapid…
It has been suggested by various authors that the `dynamical Casimir effect' might prove responsible for the production of visible-light photons in the bubble collapse which occurs in sonoluminescence. Previously, I have argued against this…
We are discussing Schwinger'idea that physical mechanism of sonoluminescence is a physical vacuum excitation. This theory was based on the assumption that the sudden change of the rate of bubble collapse leads to the jump of dielectric…
In the final few years of his life, Julian Schwinger proposed that the ``dynamical Casimir effect'' might provide the driving force behind the puzzling phenomenon of sonoluminescence. Motivated by that exciting suggestion, I have computed…
In single-bubble sonoluminescence, a bubble trapped by a sound wave in a flask of liquid is forced to expand and contract; exactly once per cycle, the bubble emits a very sharp ($< 50 ps$) pulse of visible light. This is a robust phenomenon…
The phenomenon of sonoluminescence (SL), originally observed some sixty years ago, has recently become the focus of renewed interest, particularly with the discovery that one can trap a single bubble and induce it to exhibit SL stably over…
Schwinger's Dynamical Casimir Effect is one of several candidate explanations for sonoluminescence. Recently, several papers have claimed that Schwinger's estimate of the Casimir energy involved is grossly inaccurate. In this letter, we…
Sonoluminescence is explained in terms of quantum radiation by moving interfaces between media of different polarizability. It can be considered as a dynamic Casimir effect, in the sense that it is a consequence of the imbalance of the…
In a recent series of papers, Schwinger discussed a process that he called the Dynamical Casimir Effect. The key essence of this effect is the change in zero-point energy associated with any change in a dielectric medium. (In particular, if…
In the final few years of his life, Julian Schwinger proposed that the ``dynamical Casimir effect'' might provide the driving force behind the puzzling phenomenon of sonoluminescence. Motivated by that exciting suggestion, we have computed…
In this paper we take a deeper look at the technically elementary but physically robust viewpoint in which the Casimir energy in dielectric media is interpreted as the change in the total zero point energy of the electromagnetic vacuum…
The experimental observation of intense light emission by acoustically driven, periodically collapsing bubbles of air in water (sonoluminescence) has yet to receive an adequate explanation. One of the most intriguing ideas is that the…
The Casimir energy of a solid ball (or cavity in an infinite medium) is calculated by a direct frequency summation using the contour integration. The dispersion is taken into account, and the divergences are removed by making use of the…
Sonoluminescence (SL) is the phenomenon in which acoustic energy is (partially) transformed into light. It may occur by means of many or just one bubble of gas inside a liquid medium, giving rise to the terms multi-bubble- and single-bubble…
Sonoluminescence is explained in terms of quantum radiation by moving interfaces between media of different polarizability. In a stationary dielectric the zero-point fluctuations of the electromagnetic field excite virtual two-photon states…
The widening phenomenology of Single Bubble Sonoluminescence (SBSL) is shown to be in good agreement with a new approach to condensed matter, based on the QED coherent interactions. Some remarkable properties of SBSL are shown to emerge…
We argue that the available experimental data is not compatible with models of sonoluminescence which invoke dynamical properties of the interface without regard to the compositional properties of the trapped gas inside the bubble.