arXiv subjects

D. A. R. Dalvit

Publications and source records attributed to D. A. R. Dalvit.

53 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Anomalies in electrostatic calibrations for the measurement of the Casimir force in a sphere-plane geometry

We have performed precision electrostatic calibrations in the sphere-plane geometry and observed anomalous behavior. Namely, the scaling exponent of the electrostatic signal with distance was found to be smaller than expected on the basis of the pure Coulombian contribution and the residual potential found to be distance dependent. We argue that these findings affect the accuracy of the electrostatic calibrations and invite reanalysis of previous determinations of the Casimir force.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2008

Casimir Interactions for Anisotropic Magnetodielectric Metamaterials

We extend our previous work [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 100}, 183602 (2008)] on the generalization of the Casimir-Lifshitz theory to treat anisotropic magnetodielectric media, focusing on the forces between metals and magnetodielectric metamaterials and on the possibility of inferring magnetic effects by measurements of these forces. We present results for metamaterials including structures with uniaxial and biaxial magnetodielectric anisotropies, as well as for structures with isolated metallic or dielectric properties that we describe in terms of filling factors and a Maxwell Garnett approximation. The elimination or reduction of Casimir "stiction" by appropriate engineering of metallic-based metamaterials, or the indirect detection of magnetic contributions, appear from the examples considered to be very challenging, as small background Drude contributions to the permittivity act to enhance attraction over repulsion, as does magnetic dissipation. In dielectric-based metamaterials the magnetic properties of polaritonic crystals, for instance, appear to be too weak for repulsion to overcome attraction. We also discuss Casimir-Polder experiments, that might provide another possibility for the detection of magnetic effects.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2008

Casimir-Lifshitz Theory and Metamaterials

Based on a generalization of the Lifshiftz theory we calculate Casimir forces involving magnetodielectric and possibly anisotropic metamaterials, focusing on the possibility of repulsive forces. It is found that Casimir repulsion decreases with magnetic dissipation, and even a small Drude background in metallic-based metamaterials acts to make attractive a Casimir force that would otherwise be predicted to be repulsive. The sign of the force also depends sensitively on the degree of optical anisotropy of the metamaterial, and on the form of the frequency-dependency of the magnetic response.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Van der Waals Interactions in a Magneto-Dielectric Medium

The van der Waals interaction between two ground-state atoms is calculated for two electrically or magnetically polarizable particles embedded in a dispersive magneto-dielectric medium. Unlike previous calculations which infer the atom-atom interaction from the dilute-medium limit of the macroscopic, many-body van der Waals interaction, the interaction is calculated directly for the system of two atoms in a magneto-dielectric medium. Two approaches are presented, the first based on the quantized electromagnetic field in a dispersive medium without absorption and the second on Green functions that allow for absorption. We show that the correct van der Waals interactions are obtained regardless of whether absorption in the host medium is taken into account.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Thermal and dissipative effects in Casimir physics

We report on current efforts to detect the thermal and dissipative contributions to the Casimir force. For the thermal component, two experiments are in progress at Dartmouth and at the Institute Laue Langevin in Grenoble. The first experiment will seek to detect the Casimir force at the largest explorable distance using a cylinder-plane geometry which offers various advantages with respect to both sphere-plane and parallel-plane geometries. In the second experiment, the Casimir force in the parallel-plane configuration is measured with a dedicated torsional balance, up to 10 micrometers. Parallelism of large surfaces, critical in this configuration, is maintained through the use of inclinometer technology already implemented at Grenoble for the study of gravitationally bound states of ultracold neutrons, For the dissipative component of the Casimir force, we discuss detection techniques based upon the use of hyperfine spectroscopy of ultracold atoms and Rydberg atoms. Although quite challenging, this triad of experimental efforts, if successful, will give us a better knowledge of the interplay between quantum and thermal fluctuations of the electromagnetic field and of the nature of dissipation induced by the motion of objects in a quantum vacuum.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Exact zero-point interaction energy between cylinders

We calculate the exact Casimir interaction energy between two perfectly conducting, very long, eccentric cylindrical shells using a mode summation technique. Several limiting cases of the exact formula for the Casimir energy corresponding to this configuration are studied both analytically and numerically. These include concentric cylinders, cylinder-plane, and eccentric cylinders, for small and large separations between the surfaces. For small separations we recover the proximity approximation, while for large separations we find a weak logarithmic decay of the Casimir interaction energy, typical of cylindrical geometries.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Quantum metrology at the Heisenberg limit with ion traps

Sub-Planck phase-space structures in the Wigner function of the motional degree of freedom of a trapped ion can be used to perform weak force measurements with Heisenberg-limited sensitivity. We propose methods to engineer the Hamiltonian of the trapped ion to generate states with such small scale structures, and we show how to use them in quantum metrology applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Exact Casimir interaction between eccentric cylinders

The Casimir force is the ultimate background in ongoing searches of extra-gravitational forces in the micrometer range. Eccentric cylinders offer favorable experimental conditions for such measurements as spurious gravitational and electrostatic effects can be minimized. Here we report on the evaluation of the exact Casimir interaction between perfectly conducting eccentric cylinders using a mode summation technique, and study different limiting cases of relevance for Casimir force measurements, with potential implications for the understanding of mechanical properties of nanotubes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Dynamical Casimir effect for different geometries

We consider the problem of motion-induced photon creation from quantum vacuum inside closed, perfectly conducting cavities with time-dependent geometries. These include one dimensional Fabry-Perrot resonators with Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions, three dimensional cylindrical waveguides, and a spherical shell. The number of Casimir TE, TM and TEM photons is computed. We also present a classical mechanical analogue of the one dimensional dynamical Casimir effect.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Dynamics of Open Bosonic Quantum Systems in Coherent State Representation

We consider the problem of decoherence and relaxation of open bosonic quantum systems from a perspective alternative to the standard master equation or quantum trajectories approaches. Our method is based on the dynamics of expectation values of observables evaluated in a coherent state representation. We examine a model of a quantum nonlinear oscillator with a density-density interaction with a collection of environmental oscillators at finite temperature. We derive the exact solution for dynamics of observables and demonstrate a consistent perturbation approach.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

Sub-Planck phase-space structures and Heisenberg-limited measurements

We show how sub-Planck phase-space structures in the Wigner function can be used to achieve Heisenberg-limited sensitivity in weak force measurements. Nonclassical states of harmonic oscillators, consisting of superpositions of coherent states, are shown to be useful for the measurement of weak forces that cause translations or rotations in phase space, which is done by entangling the quantum oscillator with a two-level system. Implementations of this strategy in cavity QED and ion traps are described.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Survival of quantum effects for observables after decoherence

When a quantum nonlinear system is linearly coupled to an infinite bath of harmonic oscillators, quantum coherence of the system is lost on a decoherence time-scale $τ_D$. Nevertheless, quantum effects for observables may still survive environment-induced decoherence, and be observed for times much larger than the decoherence time-scale. In particular, we show that the Ehrenfest time, which characterizes a departure of quantum dynamics for observables from the corresponding classical dynamics, can be observed for a quasi-classical nonlinear oscillator for times $τ\ggτ_D$. We discuss this observation in relation to recent experiments on quantum nonlinear systems in the quasi-classical region of parameters.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

Decoherence and the Loschmidt echo

Environment--induced decoherence causes entropy increase. It can be quantified using, e.g., the purity $ς={\rm Tr}ρ^2$. When the Hamiltonian of a quantum system is perturbed, its sensitivity to such perturbation can be measured by the Loschmidt echo $\bar M(t)$. It is given by the average squared overlap between the perturbed and unperturbed state. We describe the relation between the temporal behavior of $ς(t)$ and $\bar M(t)$. In this way we show that the decay of the Loschmidt echo can be analyzed using tools developed in the study of decoherence. In particular, for systems with a classically chaotic Hamiltonian the decay of $ς$ and $\bar M$ has a regime where it is dominated by the classical Lyapunov exponents

quant-ph↗

arXiv2001

Conditional Dynamics of Open Quantum Systems: Conditional Dynamics of Open Quantum Systems: the Case of Multiple Observers

Many observers can simultaneously measure different parts of an environment of a quantum system in order to find out its state. To study this problem we generalize the formalism of conditional master equations to the multiple observer case. To settle some issues of principle which arise in this context (as the state of the system and of the environment are ultimately correlated), we consider an example of a system qubit interacting through controlled nots (CNOTs) with environmental qubits. The state of the system is the easiest to find out for observers who measure in a basis of the environment which is most correlated with the pointer basis of the system. In this case the observers agree the most. Furthermore, the more predictable the pointers are, the easier it is to find the state of the system, and the better is the agreement between different observers.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2000

Unconditional Pointer States from Conditional Master Equations

When part of the environment responsible for decoherence is used to extract information about the decohering system, the preferred {\it pointer states} remain unchanged. This conclusion -- reached for a specific class of models -- is investigated in a general setting of conditional master equations using suitable generalizations of predictability sieve. We also find indications that the einselected states are easiest to infer from the measurements carried out on the environment.

quant-ph↗

arXiv1995

Heat Kernel and Scaling of Gravitational Constants

We consider the non-local energy-momentum tensor of quantum scalar and spinor fields in $2 w$-dimensional curved spaces. Working to lowest order in the curvature we show that, while the non-local terms proportional to $\Box {\cal R}$, $\Box \Box{\cal R}$, $\ldots, \Box^{w-2} {\cal R}$ are fully determined by the early-time behaviour of the heat kernel, the terms proportional to ${\cal R}$ depend on the asymptotic late-time behaviour. This fact explains a discrepancy between the running of the Newton constant dictated by the RG equations and the quantum corrections to the Newtonian potential.

hep-th↗

arXiv1994

Running Coupling Constants, Newtonian Potential and non localities in the Effective Action

We consider a quantum scalar field on an arbitrary gravitational background. We obtain the effective {\it in-in} equations for the gravitational fields using a covariant and non-local approximation for the effective action proposed by Vilkovisky and collaborators. {}From these equations, we compute the quantum corrections to the Newtonian potential. We find logarithmic corrections which we identify as the running of the gravitational constants. This running coincides with the renormalization group prediction only for minimal and conformal coupling.

gr-qc↗