Quantum Harmonic Oscillator and Nonstationary Casimir Effect

Abstract

We consider the relations between the theory of quantum nonstationary damped oscillator and nonstationary Casimir effect in view of the problem of photon creation from vacuum inside the cavity with periodical time-dependent conductivity of a thin semiconductor boundary layer, which simulates periodical displacements of the cavity boundaries. We develop a consistent model of quantum damped harmonic oscillator with arbitrary time-dependent frequency and damping coefficients within the framework of Heisenberg-Langevin equations with two noncommuting delta-correlated noise operators. For the minimum noise set of correlation functions, whose time dependence follows that of the damping coefficient, we obtain the exact solution, which is a generalization of the Husimi solution for undamped nonstationary oscillator. It yields the general formula for the photon-generation rate under the resonance condition in the presence of dissipation. We obtain a simple approximate formula for a time-dependent shift of the complex resonance frequency. It depends only on the total energy of a short laser pulse (which creates an effective time-dependent electron-hole “plasma mirror” on the semiconductor-slab surface) and the recombination time. We show that damping due to a finite conductivity of the material significantly diminishes the photon-generation rate in the selected field mode of the cavity. Nonetheless, we have found optimum values of the parameters (laser pulse power, recombination time, and cavity dimensions), for which the effect of photon generation from vacuum could be observed in the experimental set-up proposed in the University of Padua. We also provide with a list of publications from 2001 to 2005 devoted to the study on quantum-field interactions with moving boundaries (mirrors).