Salvatore Butera, Roberto Passante
We consider a scalar field in a one-dimensional cavity with a mobile wall. The wall is assumed bounded by a harmonic potential and its mechanical degrees of freedom are treated quantum-mechanically. The possible motion of the wall makes the cavity length variable, and yields a wall-field interaction and an effective interaction among the modes of the cavity. We consider the ground state of the coupled system and calculate the average number of virtual excitations of the cavity modes, as well as the average value of local quantities such as the field energy density induced by the wall-field interaction. These results are compared with analogous quantities for a cavity with fixed walls, and show a correction to the Casimir potential energy between the cavity walls. We emphasize that the field energy density can be measured through the Casimir-Polder interaction with a polarizable body placed inside the cavity. Similarity and differences of the results obtained with the dynamical Casimir effect are also discussed.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.6139
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