Einstein-Hopf drag, Doppler shift of thermal radiation and blackbody drag: Three perspectives on quantum friction

• Authors: Grzegorz Łach , Maarten DeKieviet , Ulrich Jentschura
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The thermal friction force acting on an atom moving relative to a thermal photon bath has recently been calculated on the basis of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. The thermal fluctuations of the electromagnetic field give rise to a drag force on an atom provided one allows for dissipation of the field energy via spontaneous emission. The drag force exists if the atomic polarizability has a nonvanishing imaginary part. Here, we explore alternative derivations. The damping of the motion of a simple harmonic oscillator is described by radiative reaction theory (result of Einstein and Hopf), taking into account the known stochastic fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. Describing the excitations of the atom as an ensemble of damped harmonic oscillators, we identify the previously found expressions as generalizations of the Einstein-Hopf result. In addition, we present a simple explanation for blackbody friction in terms of a Doppler shift of the thermal radiation in the inertial frame of the moving atom: The atom absorbs blue-shifted photons from the front and radiates off energy in all directions, thereby losing energy. The original plus the two alternative derivations provide for additional confirmation of an intriguing quantum friction effect, and leave no doubt regarding its existence.

Keywords

EN

atomic scale friction; quantum electrodynamics; specific calculations; atomic processes and interactions; renormalization group methods; radiative transfer; scattering

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Open Physics
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 763-767

Dates

published

1 - 8 - 2012

online

17 - 7 - 2012

Contributors

author

Grzegorz Łach

author

Maarten DeKieviet

• Physikalisches Institut der Universität, Albert-Ueberle-Strasse 3-5, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

author

Ulrich Jentschura

References

• [1] V. Mkrtchian, V. A. Parsegian, R. Podgornik, W. M. Saslow, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 220801 (2003) http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.220801[Crossref]
• [2] A. Einstein, L. Hopf, Ann. Phys. (Leipzig) 33, 1105 (1910)
• [3] J. M. McKinley, Am. J. Phys. 47, 602 (1979) http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.11762[Crossref]
• [4] R. Grimm, M. Weidemüller, Y. B. Ovchinnikov, Adv. At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 42, 95 (2000) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1049-250X(08)60186-X[Crossref]
• [5] P. W. Milonni, Am. J. Phys. 49, 177 (1980) http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.12552[Crossref]
• [6] S. M. Rytov, Y. A. Kravtsov, V. I. Tatarskii, Principles of Statistical Radiophysics, 3 (Springer, New York, 1989) http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-72682-8[Crossref]
• [7] L. P. Pitaevskii, E. M. Lifshitz, Statistical Physics, Part 2, (Pergamon Press, Oxford, UK, 1958)
• [8] T. G. Philbin, U. Leonhardt, New J. Phys. 11, 033035 (2009) http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/11/3/033035[Crossref]
• [9] J. B. Pendry, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 9, 10301 (1997) http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/9/47/001[Crossref]
• [10] J. B. Pendry, New J. Phys. 11, 033028 (2010) http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/12/3/033028[Crossref]
• [11] M. S. Tomassone, A. Widom, Phys. Rev. B 56, 4938 (1997) http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.56.4938[Crossref]
• [12] A. I. Volokitin, B. N. J. Persson, Phys. Rev. B 78, 155437 (2008) http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.78.155437[Crossref]
• [13] V. Mkrtchian, V. A. Parsegian, R. Podgornik, W. M. Saslow, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 059002 (2004) http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.059002[Crossref]
• [14] G. Łach, M. DeKieviet, U. D. Jentschura, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 043005 (2012) http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.043005[Crossref]

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/s11534-012-0035-x