Analogue Casimir Radiation using an Optical Para- metric Oscillator

TL;DR

This paper proposes using an optical parametric oscillator to simulate the dynamical Casimir effect, enabling easier detection of photon emission and providing a platform to test different theoretical models.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analogy between the dynamical Casimir effect and an optical parametric oscillator for experimental simulation.

Findings

Photon flux from the proposed system is more detectable than mechanical mirror excitation.

The approach allows discrimination between different theoretical predictions.

The system effectively simulates a cavity oscillating in vacuum at optical frequencies.

Abstract

We establish an explicit analogy between the dynamical Casimir effect and the photon emission of a thin non-linear crystal pumped inside a cavity. This allows us to propose a system based on a type-I optical parametric oscillator (OPO) to simulate a cavity oscillating in vacuum at optical frequencies. The resulting photon flux is expected to be more easily detectable than with a mechanical excitation of the mirrors. We conclude by comparing different theoretical predictions and suggest that our experimental proposal could help discriminate between them.