Casimir Effect and Free Fall in a Schwarzschild Black Hole

TL;DR

This paper investigates the Casimir effect and particle creation for a scalar field in a 3D setup within a Schwarzschild black hole spacetime, revealing small corrections and quantum excitations due to curved geometry.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of vacuum energy and particle creation in a 3D Casimir apparatus falling into a black hole, highlighting the effects of spacetime curvature.

Findings

Casimir energy receives small corrections in curved spacetime

A tiny amount of particles are excited from the vacuum

Effects depend on the spacetime dimensionality

Abstract

Scalar field vacuum energy and particle creation in a 3D Casimir apparatus, freely falling in the Schwarzschild spacetime, are considered in the reference frame of a comoving observer. Following Schwinger's proper time approach, Casimir energy is evaluated from the effective action, resulting in a small correction to the flat spacetime case. Besides, a tiny amount of quanta excited out from the vacuum is found. Both effects are discussed, drawing attention to the role of the underlying spacetime dimensionality.