Countering a fundamental law of attraction with quantum wavepacket engineering

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how quantum wavepacket engineering within Bohmian mechanics can temporarily suppress the Casimir-Polder force, reducing atomic absorption to surfaces, with potential applications in metrology and sensing.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to control atom-surface interactions by designing atomic wavepackets using Bohmian quantum potentials, supported by analytical, numerical, and experimental proposals.

Findings

Suppression of Casimir-Polder force via wavepacket engineering

Reduction of atomic surface absorption

Proposed experimental scheme for wavepacket shaping

Abstract

Bohmian mechanics was designed to give rise to predictions identical to those derived by standard quantum mechanics, while invoking a specific interpretation of it - one which allows the classical notion of a particle to be maintained alongside a guiding wave. For this, the Bohmian model makes use of a unique quantum potential which governs the trajectory of the particle. In this work we show that this interpretation of quantum theory naturally leads to the derivation of interesting new phenomena. Specifically, we demonstrate how the fundamental Casimir-Polder force, by which atoms are attracted to a surface, may be temporarily suppressed by utilizing a specially designed quantum potential. We show that when harnessing the quantum potential via a suitable atomic wavepacket engineering, the absorption by the surface can be dramatically reduced. This is proven both analytically and numerically. Finally, an experimental scheme is proposed for achieving the required shape for the atomic wavepacket. All these may enable new insights into Bohmian mechanics as well as new applications to metrology and sensing.