Gravitational spectral shift caused by Casimir stresses

TL;DR

This paper investigates how quantum scalar fields near a boundary influence gravitational effects, revealing that particles are affected by quantum stresses while light rays are unaffected, and proposes measuring spectral deviations to determine coupling parameters.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of gravitational effects caused by Casimir stresses using the linearized Einstein equations with quantum field sources.

Findings

Light rays parallel to the boundary do not bend.

Particles are accelerated toward or away from the boundary depending on the coupling parameter.

Spectral deviations can be used to measure the coupling parameter {}.

Abstract

The linearized Einstein field equations with the renormalized stress tensor of a massless quantum scalar field as source are solved in the 4-dimensional spacetime near an infinite plane boundary. The motion of particles and light is investigated disclosing a variety of effects. For instance, it is shown that light rays initially parallel to the boundary do not bend. On the other hand, under the same initial conditions, particles will be affected by the presence of the quantum field, being accelerated toward the plane boundary or departing from it depending on the value of the curvature coupling parameter {\xi}. It is suggested that {\xi} can be set by measuring the spectral deviation of a light ray travelling perpendicularly to the boundary.