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Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 220801 (2003) [4 pages]

Universal Thermal Radiation Drag on Neutral Objects

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Vanik Mkrtchian1, V. Adrian Parsegian2, Rudi Podgornik2,3, and Wayne M. Saslow4
1Institute for Physical Research, Armenian Academy of Sciences, 378410 Ashtarak-2, Armenia
2Laboratory of Structural and Physical Biology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-5626, USA
3Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Jadranska 19, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
4Department of Physics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77840-4242, USA

Received 6 August 2003; published 25 November 2003

See accompanying Physics Focus

We compute the force on a small neutral polarizable object moving at velocity v⃗ relative to a photon gas equilibrated at a temperature T. We find a drag force linear in v⃗. Its physical basis is related to that in recent formulations of the dissipative component of the Casimir force, i.e., the change in photon momentum in emission and absorption between the moving body and the stationary thermal bath. We estimate the strength of this universal drag force for different dielectric response functions and comment on its relevance in various contexts, especially to radiation-matter coupling in the cosmos.

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.220801
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.220801
PACS:
95.30.Jx, 07.79.Lh, 68.35.Af, 95.30.Dr

See Also

Reply: P. A. Maia Neto and C. Farina, Comment on “Universal Thermal Radiation Drag on Neutral Objects”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 059001 (2004).

Reply: Vanik Mkrtchian, V. Adrian Parsegian, Rudi Podgornik, and Wayne M. Saslow, Mkrtchian et al. Reply, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 059002 (2004).

 
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