arXiv subjects

Inés Cavero-Peláez

Publications and source records attributed to Inés Cavero-Peláez.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Localized zero modes enhance massive Casimir interactions

Massive quantum fields ordinarily produce strongly screened Casimir interactions at large separation. We show that a normalisable localised zero mode can change this asymptotic behaviour: it opens an additional interaction channel whose decay is parametrically slower than that due to the exchange of massive quantum fluctuations, even though the continuum itself remains gapped. We demonstrate this mechanism analytically and show that the massive quantum fluctuations provide the local dressing of each object's coupling to the zero-mode fluctuations. The sine-Gordon kink provides an exactly solvable realisation in which the Casimir interaction exhibits the predicted zero-mode-dominated large-distance behaviour, with the enhancement localised around the kink.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Quantum vacuum interaction between semitransparent plates in a Pöschl-Teller background: an exact relative TGTG formula

We derive an exact background-dressed TGTG formula for the one-loop quantum vacuum inter- action between two semitransparent Dirac-delta plates in the one-soliton Pöchl-Teller background. The interaction is defined through a relative determinant in which the two isolated one-plate contributions are subtracted in the same background. As a result, the energy depends on the individual plate positions as well as on their separation. For repulsive plates, the normalizable zero mode does not induce an infrared divergence in the relative interaction energy. We also extend the construction to planar plates and analyze the corresponding position-dependent interaction forces.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Quantum Vacuum Energy of Self-Similar Configurations

We offer in this review a description of the vacuum energy of self-similar systems. We describe two views of setting self-similar structures and point out the main differences. A review of the authors' work on the subject is presented, where they treat the self-similar system as a many-object problem embedded in a regular smooth manifold. Focused on Dirichlet boundary conditions, we report a systematic way of calculating the Casimir energy of self-similar bodies where the knowledge of the quantum vacuum energy of the single building block element is assumed and in fact already known. A fundamental property that allows us to proceed with our method is the dependence of the energy on a geometrical parameter that makes it possible to establish the scaling property of self-similar systems. Several examples are given. We also describe the situation, shown by other authors, where the embedded space is a fractal space itself, having fractal dimension. A fractal space does not hold properties that are rather common in regular spaces like the tangent space. We refer to other authors who explain how some self-similar configurations "do not have any smooth structures and one cannot define differential operators on them directly". This gives rise to important differences in the behavior of the vacuum.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

Casimir energy of Sierpinski triangles

Using scaling arguments and the property of self-similarity we derive the Casimir energies of Sierpinski triangles and Sierpinski rectangles. The Hausdorff-Besicovitch dimension (fractal dimension) of the Casimir energy is introduced and the Berry-Weyl conjecture is discussed for these geometries. We propose that for a class of fractals, comprising of compartmentalized cavities, it is possible to establish a finite value to the Casimir energy even while the Casimir energy of the individual cavities consists of divergent terms.

hep-th↗

arXiv2016

Casimir energies of self-similar plate configurations

We construct various self-similar configurations using parallel $δ$-function plates and show that it is possible to evaluate the Casimir interaction energy of these configurations using the idea of self-similarity alone. We restrict our analysis to interactions mediated by a scalar field, but the extension to electromagnetic field is immediate. Our work unveils an easy and powerful method that can be easily employed to calculate the Casimir energies of a class of self-similar configurations. As a highlight, in an example, we determine the Casimir interaction energy of a stack of parallel plates constructed by positioning $δ$-function plates at the points constituting the Cantor set, a prototype of a fractal. This, to our knowledge, is the first time that the Casimir energy of a fractal configuration has been reported. Remarkably, the Casimir energy of some of the configurations we consider turn out to be positive, and a few even have zero Casimir energy. For the case of positive Casimir energy that is monotonically decreasing as the stacking parameter increases the interpretation is that the pressure of vacuum tends to inflate the infinite stack of plates. We further support our results, derived using the idea of self-similarity alone, by rederiving them using the Green's function formalism. These expositions gives us insight into the connections between the regularization methods used in quantum field theories and regularized sums of divergent series in number theory.

hep-th↗

arXiv2010

Electromagnetic Non-contact Gears: Prelude

We calculate the lateral Lifshitz force between corrugated dielectric slabs of finite thickness. Taking the thickness of the plates to infinity leads us to the lateral Lifshitz force between corrugated dielectric surfaces of infinite extent. Taking the dielectric constant to infinity leads us to the conductor limit which has been evaluated earlier in the literature.

cond-mat.other↗