Casimir-Polder induced Rabi oscillations

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that Casimir-Polder interactions can induce coherent Rabi oscillations between degenerate atomic states, exemplified by a rubidium atom near a reflecting surface, revealing a novel quantum vacuum effect.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of Casimir-Polder induced Rabi oscillations and calculates the effect for a rubidium atom near a surface, highlighting a new quantum vacuum phenomenon.

Findings

Casimir-Polder interaction can cause coherent atomic state oscillations.

The Rabi frequency depends on the atom-surface interaction parameters.

Atomic Zeeman sublevels oscillate with a period determined by the Casimir-Polder effect.

Abstract

We show that the Casimir-Polder interaction may induce coherent oscillations between degenerate atomic states. We illustrate this effect by computing the Casimir-Polder induced Rabi frequency on a $^{87}$Rb atom as it interacts with a reflecting surface. The atom oscillates between two Zeeman sublevels of its ground state undergoing a periodic exchange of angular momentum with the vacuum photons.