scholarly journals Electromagnetic solitons in quantum vacuum

2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. V. Bulanov ◽  
P. V. Sasorov ◽  
F. Pegoraro ◽  
H. Kadlecová ◽  
S. S. Bulanov ◽  
...  
Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
Diego A. R. Dalvit ◽  
Wilton J. M. Kort-Kamp

Temporal modulation of the quantum vacuum through fast motion of a neutral body or fast changes of its optical properties is known to promote virtual into real photons, the so-called dynamical Casimir effect. Empowering modulation protocols with spatial control could enable the shaping of spectral, spatial, spin, and entanglement properties of the emitted photon pairs. Space–time quantum metasurfaces have been proposed as a platform to realize this physics via modulation of their optical properties. Here, we report the mechanical analog of this phenomenon by considering systems in which the lattice structure undergoes modulation in space and in time. We develop a microscopic theory that applies both to moving mirrors with a modulated surface profile and atomic array meta-mirrors with perturbed lattice configuration. Spatiotemporal modulation enables motion-induced generation of co- and cross-polarized photon pairs that feature frequency-linear momentum entanglement as well as vortex photon pairs featuring frequency-angular momentum entanglement. The proposed space–time dynamical Casimir effect can be interpreted as induced dynamical asymmetry in the quantum vacuum.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabien Quéré ◽  
Henri Vincenti

Abstract The quantum vacuum plays a central role in physics. Quantum electrodynamics (QED) predicts that the properties of the fermionic quantum vacuum can be probed by extremely large electromagnetic fields. The typical field amplitudes required correspond to the onset of the ‘optical breakdown’ of this vacuum, expected at light intensities >4.7×1029 W/cm2. Approaching this ‘Schwinger limit’ would enable testing of major but still unverified predictions of QED. Yet, the Schwinger limit is seven orders of magnitude above the present record in light intensity achieved by high-power lasers. To close this considerable gap, a promising paradigm consists of reflecting these laser beams off a mirror in relativistic motion, to induce a Doppler effect that compresses the light pulse in time down to the attosecond range and converts it to shorter wavelengths, which can then be focused much more tightly than the initial laser light. However, this faces a major experimental hurdle: how to generate such relativistic mirrors? In this article, we explain how this challenge could nowadays be tackled by using so-called ‘relativistic plasma mirrors’. We argue that approaching the Schwinger limit in the coming years by applying this scheme to the latest generation of petawatt-class lasers is a challenging but realistic objective.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amrit Srečko Šorli

Editor's Note: this Article has been retracted; the Retraction Note is available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-80949-z.


2021 ◽  
Vol 503 (4) ◽  
pp. 5091-5099
Author(s):  
Dragan Slavkov Hajdukovic ◽  
Sergej Walter

ABSTRACT In a recent paper, quantum vacuum was considered as a source of gravity, and the simplest, phenomenon, the gravitational polarization of the quantum vacuum by an immersed point-like body, was studied. In this paper, we have derived the effective gravitational charge density of the quantum vacuum, caused by two immersed point-like bodies. Among others, the obtained result proves that quantum vacuum can have regions with a negative effective gravitational charge density. Hence, quantum vacuum, the ‘ocean’ in which all matter of the Universe is immersed, acts as a complex fluid with a very variable gravitational charge density that might include both positive and negative densities; a crucial prediction that can be tested within the Solar system. In the general case of ${N \ge {\rm{3}}}$ point-like bodies, immersed in the quantum vacuum, the analytical solutions are not possible, and the use of numerical methods is inevitable. The key point is that an appropriate numerical method, for the calculation of the effective gravitational charge density of the quantum vacuum induced by N immersed bodies, might be crucial in description of galaxies, without the involvement of dark matter or a modification of gravity. The development of such a valuable numerical method, is not possible, without a previous (and in this study achieved) understanding of the impact of a two-body system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 103 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Holger Gies ◽  
Felix Karbstein ◽  
Leonhard Klar
Keyword(s):  

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aparna Sharma ◽  
Hitendra K. Malik ◽  
Harish Kumar

2020 ◽  
Vol 80 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Muñoz-Castañeda ◽  
L. Santamaría-Sanz ◽  
M. Donaire ◽  
M. Tello-Fraile

Abstract In this paper we study the system of a scalar quantum field confined between two plane, isotropic, and homogeneous parallel plates at thermal equilibrium. We represent the plates by the most general lossless and frequency-independent boundary conditions that satisfy the conditions of isotropy and homogeneity and are compatible with the unitarity of the quantum field theory. Under these conditions we compute the thermal correction to the quantum vacuum energy as a function of the temperature and the parameters encoding the boundary condition. The latter enables us to obtain similar results for the pressure between plates and the quantum thermal correction to the entropy. We find out that our system is thermodynamically stable for any boundary conditions, and we identify a critical temperature below which certain boundary conditions yield attractive, repulsive, and null Casimir forces.


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