Probing the Quantum Vacuum
Author: Walter Dittrich
Publisher:
Published: 2014-01-15
Total Pages: 260
ISBN-13: 9783662147078
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Probing the Quantum Vacuum
Probing the Quantum Vacuum
Author: Walter Dittrich
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2003-07-01
Total Pages: 249
ISBN-13: 354045585X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This book is devoted to an investigation of the vacuum of quantum elec trodynamics (QED), relying on the perturbative effective action approach. If the vacuum is probed with external perturbations, the response of the system can be analyzed after averaging over the high energy degrees of freedom. This results in an effective description of the properties of the vacuum, which are comparable to the properties of a classical medium. We concentrate primarily on the physics of slowly varying fields or soft photons by integrating out the high energy degrees of freedom, i.e. the elec trons, employing Schwinger's proper time method. We derive a new represen tation of the one loop photon polarization tensor, coupling to all orders to an arbitrary constant electromagnetic field, fully maintaining the dependence on the complete set of invariants. On the basis of effective Lagrangians, we derive the light cone condition for low frequency photons propagating in strong fields. Our formalism can be extended to various external perturbations, such as temperature and Casimir situations. We give a proof of the "unified formula" for low energy phenom ena that describes the refractive indices of various perturbed quantum vacua. In the high energy domain, we observe similarities between a vacuum with a superstrong magnetic field and a magnetized plasma. The question of mea surability of the various effects is addressed; a violation of causality is not found.
Probing the Quantum Vacuum Using Nonlinear Crystals: a Macroscopic Quantum Electrodynamics Perspective
Author: Frieder Lindel
Publisher:
Published: 2020
Total Pages:
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Abstract: Vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field associated with the ground state exist as a consequence of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. These fluctuating fields manifest themselves indirectly through their influence on matter where they may be regarded as responsible for important processes in nature, e.g. spontaneous emission, the Lamb shift, Casimir and Casimir-Polder forces. More recently, an alternative route to observing the quantum vacuum has been developed in electro-optic sampling experiments: they are based on the output statistics of ultrashort laser pulses sent through nonlinear crystals whose optical properties are influenced by the vacuum fluctuations. In this thesis, we develop a theoretical framework based on macroscopic quantum electro- dynamics for describing the propagation of quantised electric fields through a nonlinear crystal allowing for general environments. We apply this framework to the setup of electro-optic sampling, finding a description of the experiments which extends previous theoretical results beyond the paraxial approximation and by allowing for general ab- sorptive and dispersive environments via the classical Green's tensor. We show that the predictions of our theory for electro-optic sampling experiments in bulk media are in good agreement with the experimental data, recovering previous theoretical findings in certain limits, and how these experiments can be used to individually measure longitudinal or transverse fluctuating fields. We argue that by modifying the experimental setup, one can observe different characteristics of the environment-assisted quantum vacuum such as changes induced by metallic plates and cavities or surface resonances of these objects. This makes it possible to experimentally test the theoretical predictions for the medium-assisted ground state of quantum electrodynamics and thereby forging the missing link between geometry-induced vacuum effects such as e.g. the Casimir effect and electro-optic sampling of the vacuum
The Quantum Vacuum
Author: Luciano Boi
Publisher: JHU Press
Published: 2011-10-28
Total Pages: 233
ISBN-13: 1421402475
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →A vacuum, classically understood, contains nothing. The quantum vacuum, on the other hand, is a seething cauldron of nothingness: particle pairs going in and out of existence continuously and rapidly while exerting influence over an enormous range of scales. Acclaimed mathematical physicist and natural philosopher Luciano Boi expounds the quantum vacuum, exploring the meaning of nothingness and its relationship with physical reality. Boi first provides a deep analysis of the interaction between geometry and physics at the quantum level. He next describes the relationship between the microscopic and macroscopic structures of the world. In so doing, Boi sheds light on the very nature of the universe, stressing in an original and profound way the relationship between quantum geometry and the internal symmetries underlying the behavior of matter and the interactions of forces. Beyond the physics and mathematics of the quantum vacuum, Boi offers a profoundly philosophical interpretation of the concept. Plato and Aristotle did not believe a vacuum was possible. How could nothing be something, they asked? Boi traces the evolution of the quantum vacuum from an abstract concept in ancient Greece to its fundamental role in quantum field theory and string theory in modern times. The quantum vacuum is a complex entity, one essential to understanding some of the most intriguing issues in twentieth-century physics, including cosmic singularity, dark matter and energy, and the existence of the Higgs boson particle. Boi explains with simple clarity the relevant theories and fundamental concepts of the quantum vacuum. Theoretical, mathematical, and particle physicists, as well as researchers and students of the history and philosophy of physics, will find The Quantum Vacuum to be a stimulating and engaging primer on the topic.
Probing the Structure of Quantum Mechanics
Author: D. Aerts (ed.)
Publisher: World Scientific
Published: 2002
Total Pages: 404
ISBN-13: 9789810248475
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →During the last decade, scientists working in quantum theory have been engaging in promising new fields such as quantum computation and quantum information processing, and have also been reflecting on the possibilities of nonlinear behavior on the quantum level. These are challenging undertakings because (1) they will result in new solutions to important technical and practical problems that were unsolvable by the classical approaches (for example, quantum computers can calculate problems that are intractable if one uses classical computers); and (2) they open up new 'hard' problems of a fundamental nature that touch the foundation of quantum theory itself (for example, the contradiction between locality and nonlinearity and the interpretation of quantum computing as a universal process).In this book, one can distinguish two main streams of research to approach the just-mentioned problem field: (1) a theoretical structural part, which concentrates on the elaboration of a nonlinear quantum mechanics and the fundamentals of quantum computation; and (2) a theoretical experimental part, which focuses on the theoretical aspects of applications that arise from new technology and novel research perspectives such as quantum optics and quantum cryptography. Particular attention is also paid to the measurement problem, the classical limit and alternative interpretations (such as the hidden measurement approach).
Gentle Loss Measurement
Spectroscopic Probes of Quantum Matter
Author: Christophe Berthod
Publisher:
Published: 2018
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9780750317412
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →"The contemporary understanding of matter is based on the quantum theory, which envisions large collections of particles interacting with each other and with their environment. Spectroscopic probes based for instance on light change the environment and trigger a collective response of the particles. This book based on a graduate-level course explains the underpinnings of many-body quantum theory and exposes the main methodologies for calculations, before describing, with the support of practical examples and short computer codes, how the spectroscopic techniques are represented within the theory and how their outcome is interpreted as a probe of the correlations between quantum particles." -- Prové de l'editor.
Quantum Vacuum Structure and Cosmology
Author:
Publisher:
Published: 2011
Total Pages: 8
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Contemporary physics faces three great riddles that lie at the intersection of quantum theory, particle physics and cosmology. They are: (1) The expansion of the universe is accelerating - an extra factor of two appears in the size; (2) Zero-point fluctuations do not gravitate - a matter of 120 orders of magnitude; and (3) The 'True' quantum vacuum state does not gravitate. The latter two are explicitly problems related to the interpretation and the physical role and relation of the quantum vacuum with and in general relativity. Their resolution may require a major advance in our formulation and understanding of a common unified approach to quantum physics and gravity. To achieve this goal we must develop an experimental basis and much of the discussion we present is devoted to this task. In the following, we examine the observations and the theory contributing to the current framework comprising these riddles. We consider an interpretation of the first riddle within the context of the universe's quantum vacuum state, and propose an experimental concept to probe the vacuum state of the universe.
Laser Physics at the Limits
Author: Hartmut Figger
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2013-06-29
Total Pages: 525
ISBN-13: 3662048973
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Published on the occasion of Theodor Hänsch's 60th Birthday emphasis is placed on precision related to results in a variety of fields, such as atomic clocks, frequency standards, and the measurement of physical constants in atomic physics. Furthermore, illustrations and engineering applications of the fundamentals of quantum mechanics are widely covered. It has contributions by Nobel prize winners Norman F. Ramsey, Steven Chu, and Carl E. Wieman.
