Inertial forces and dissipation on accelerated boundaries

TL;DR

This paper investigates how inertial forces cause dissipation in matter fields on accelerated boundaries across various dimensions, using effective action techniques to quantify these effects, with potential applications to graphene sheets.

Contribution

It introduces models of scalar and Dirac matter fields on accelerated boundaries and calculates dissipation effects, extending understanding of inertial forces in quantum field theory.

Findings

Dissipation strength depends on boundary acceleration and matter field type.

Massless Dirac fields model inertial forces on accelerated graphene sheets.

Effective action methods quantify boundary-induced dissipation.

Abstract

We study dissipative effects due to inertial forces acting on matter fields confined to accelerated boundaries in $1+1$, $2+1$, and $3+1$ dimensions. These matter fields describe the internal degrees of freedom of `mirrors' and impose, on the surfaces where they are defined, boundary conditions on a fluctuating `vacuum' field. We construct different models, involving either scalar or Dirac matter fields coupled to a vacuum scalar field, and use effective action techniques to calculate the strength of dissipation. In the case of massless Dirac fields, the results could be used to describe the inertial forces on an accelerated graphene sheet.