Quantum fluctuations of the friction force induced by the dynamical Casimir emission

TL;DR

This paper investigates quantum fluctuations of the friction force caused by the dynamical Casimir effect in an optical cavity with a movable mirror, revealing observable quantum signatures and challenging semiclassical backreaction models.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum model of the dynamical Casimir effect with a moving mirror, analyzing quantum fluctuations and their impact on mirror dynamics and quantum states.

Findings

Quantum fluctuations induce measurable effects on mirror oscillations.

Discreteness of emitted photons leads to phase diffusion.

Results challenge semiclassical backreaction theories.

Abstract

We study a quantum model of dynamical Casimir effect in an optical cavity enclosed by a freely moving mirror attached to a harmonic spring. The quantum fluctuations of the friction force exerted by the dynamical Casimir emission onto the moving mirror are investigated, as well as their consequences on the quantum state of the mirror oscillation. Observable signatures of the interplay of the nonlinear nature of the effective mirror-cavity coupling and of the discreteness of the emitted photons are pointed out, in particular as a fast diffusion of the mirror oscillation phase. These results are interpreted in the language of quantum field theories on curved space-times as a breakdown of the standard semiclassical theory of the backreaction.