2022/01/31 by C. D. Fosco, Fernando C. Lombardo, F. C. Lombardo +2 · 5 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Amplitude #Atom (system on chip) #Atomic physics #Dissipative system #Excitation #Excited state #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Quantum electrodynamics #Quantum mechanics #Scalar (mathematics) #Scalar field #Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies #cond-mat.other #hep-ph #hep-th #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.105.045019
published in Physical review. D/Physical review. D. 105(4) (American Physical Society) · Version to appear in Phys. Rev. D
arxiv created 2022/02/11 · openalex publication_date 2022/02/23 · arxiv updated 2022/03/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We study quantum dissipative effects due to the non-relativistic, bounded, accelerated motion of a single neutral atom in the presence of a planar perfect mirror, i.e. a perfect conductor at all frequencies. We consider a simplified model whereby a moving `scalar atom' is coupled to a quantum real scalar field, subjected to either Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions on the plane. We use an expansion in powers of the departure of the atom with respect to a static average position, to compute the vacuum persistence amplitude, and the resulting vacuum decay probability. We evaluate transition amplitudes corresponding to the excitation of the atom plus the emission of a particle, and show explicitly that the vacuum decay probabilities match the results obtained by integrating the transition amplitudes over the directions of the emitted particle. We also compute the spontaneous emission rate of an oscillating atom that is initially in an excited state.