Functional approach to quantum friction: effective action and dissipative force

TL;DR

This paper develops a functional approach to analyze quantum friction between moving mirrors coupled to a scalar field, calculating effective action and frictional force, revealing vacuum decay and dissipative effects.

Contribution

It introduces a novel functional method to evaluate quantum friction and vacuum decay in a system of moving mirrors coupled to a scalar field.

Findings

Effective action develops an imaginary part indicating vacuum decay.

Vacuum expectation value of frictional force is explicitly calculated.

Results are provided for zero-width mirrors and half-spaces.

Abstract

We study the Casimir friction due to the relative, uniform, lateral motion of two parallel semitransparent mirrors coupled to a vacuum real scalar field, $\phi$. We follow a functional approach, whereby nonlocal terms in the action for $\phi$, concentrated on the mirrors' locii, appear after functional integration of the microscopic degrees of freedom. This action for $\phi$, which incorporates the relevant properties of the mirrors, is then used as the starting point for two complementary evaluations: Firstly, we calculate the { in-out} effective action for the system, which develops an imaginary part, hence a non-vanishing probability for the decay (because of friction) of the initial vacuum state. Secondly, we evaluate another observable: the vacuum expectation value of the frictional force, using the { in-in} or Closed Time Path formalism. Explicit results are presented for zero-width mirrors and half-spaces, in a model where the microscopic degrees of freedom at the mirrors are a set of identical quantum harmonic oscillators, linearly coupled to $\phi$