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Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 200402 (2006) [4 pages]

Detectability of Dissipative Motion in Quantum Vacuum via Superradiance

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Woo-Joong Kim1, James Hayden Brownell1, and Roberto Onofrio1,2
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, 6127 Wilder Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA
2Dipartimento di Fisica “G. Galilei,” Università di Padova, Via Marzolo 8, Padova 35131, Italy

See Also: Erratum

Received 1 February 2006; published 22 May 2006

See accompanying Physics Focus

We propose an experiment for generating and detecting vacuum-induced dissipative motion. A high frequency mechanical resonator driven in resonance is expected to dissipate mechanical energy in quantum vacuum via photon emission. The photons are stored in a high quality electromagnetic cavity and detected through their interaction with ultracold alkali-metal atoms prepared in an inverted population of hyperfine states. Superradiant amplification of the generated photons results in a detectable radio-frequency signal temporally distinguishable from the expected background.

© 2006 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.200402
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.200402
PACS:
12.20.Fv, 42.50.Lc, 42.50.Pq, 85.85.+j

See Also

Erratum: Woo-Joong Kim, James Hayden Brownell, and Roberto Onofrio, Erratum: Detectability of Dissipative Motion in Quantum Vacuum via Superradiance [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 200402 (2006)], Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 089902 (2006).

 
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