Vacuum friction in rotating particles

TL;DR

This paper investigates vacuum friction on rotating particles, revealing energy conversion to light, particle heating, and cooling effects at different temperatures, with implications for cosmic dust and long stopping times.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of vacuum friction effects on rotating particles, including energy emission spectra and stopping times, which were not previously characterized.

Findings

Vacuum friction causes light emission and heating at zero temperature.

Finite temperatures can lead to particle cooling despite vacuum friction.

Predicted stopping times vary from hours to billions of years.

Abstract

We study the frictional torque acting on particles rotating in empty space. At zero temperature, vacuum friction transforms mechanical energy into light emission and produces particle heating. However, particle cooling relative to the environment occurs at finite temperatures and low rotation velocities. Radiation emission is boosted and its spectrum significantly departed from a hot-body emission profile as the velocity increases. Stopping times ranging from hours to billions of years are predicted for materials, particle sizes, and temperatures accessible to experiment. Implications for the behavior of cosmic dust are discussed.