Realising Einstein's mirror: Optomechanical damping with a thermal photon gas

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to observe Einstein's thermalization of a mirror using high-intensity thermal light, predicting damping effects on nanoscale objects within seconds, enabling experimental verification of historical theory.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to realize Einstein's mirror thermalization effect with amplified thermal light sources, bridging a century-old theory with feasible experiments.

Findings

Damping of nanoscale objects' motion predicted within seconds.

Thermal photon gas can induce measurable optomechanical damping.

Potential for experimental observation of Einstein's thermalization effect.

Abstract

In 1909 Einstein described the thermalization of a mirror within a blackbody cavity by collisions with thermal photons. While the time to thermalize the motion of even a microscale or nanoscale object is so long that it is not feasible, we show that it is using the high intensity light from an amplified thermal light source with a well-defined chemical potential. We predict damping of the center-of mass motion due to this effect on times scales of seconds for small optomechanical systems, such as levitated nanoparticles, allowing experimental observation.