Boundary-free Part Research Articles

Scalar Casimir densities and forces for parallel plates in cosmic string spacetime

We analyze the Casimir densities and forces associated with a massive scalar quantum field confined between two parallel plates in a D-dimensional cosmic string spacetime. The plates are placed orthogonal to the string and the field obeys the Robin boundary conditions on them. The boundary-induced contributions are explicitly extracted in the vacuum expectation values (VEVs) of the field squared and energy-momentum tensor for both single and two plates. The VEV of the energy-momentum tensor, in additional to the diagonal components, contains an off-diagonal component corresponding to the shear stress. The latter vanishes on the plates in special cases of Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. For points outside the string core the topological contributions in the VEVs are finite on the plates. Near the string the VEVs are dominated by the boundary-free part, whereas at large distances the boundary-induced contributions dominate. Due to the nonzero off-diagonal component of the vacuum energy-momentum tensor, in addition to the normal component, the Casimir forces have nonzero component parallel to the boundary. Unlike the problem on the Minkowski bulk, the normal forces acting on the separate plates, in general, do not coincide. Another difference is that in the presence of the cosmic string the Casimir forces for Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions differ. For Dirichlet case the normal Casimir force does not depend on the curvature coupling parameter. This is not the case for other boundary conditions. A new qualitative feature induced by the cosmic string is the appearance of the shear stress acting on the plates. The corresponding force is directed along the radial coordinate and vanishes for Dirichlet and Neumann cases. Depending on the parameters of the problem, the radial component of the shear force can be either positive or negative.

Fermionic vacuum polarization by a flat boundary in cosmic string spacetime

In this paper, we investigate the fermionic condensate and the renormalized vacuum expectation value (VEV) of the energy–momentum tensor for a massive fermionic field induced by a flat boundary in the cosmic string spacetime. In this analysis, we assume that the field operator obeys MIT bag boundary condition on the boundary. We explicitly decompose the VEVs into the boundary-free and boundary-induced parts. General formulas are provided for both parts which are valid for any value of the parameter associated with the cosmic string. For a massless field, the boundary-free part in the fermionic condensate and the boundary-induced part in the energy–momentum tensor vanish. For a massive field, the radial stress is equal to the energy density for both boundary-free and boundary-induced parts. The boundary-induced part in the stress along the axis of the cosmic string vanishes. The total energy density is negative everywhere, whereas the effective pressure along the azimuthal direction is positive near the boundary and negative near the cosmic string. We show that for points away from the boundary, the boundary-induced parts in the fermionic condensate and in the VEV of the energy–momentum tensor vanish on the string.

Scalar self-energy for a charged particle in global monopole spacetime with a spherical boundary

We analyze combined effects of the geometry produced by a global monopole and a concentric spherical boundary on the self-energy of a point-like scalar charged test particle at rest. We assume that the boundary is outside the monopole’s core with a general spherically symmetric inner structure. An important quantity to this analysis is the three-dimensional Green function associated with this system. For both Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions obeyed by the scalar field on the sphere, the Green function presents a structure that contains contributions due to the background geometry of the spacetime and the boundary. Consequently, the corresponding induced scalar self-energy also presents a similar structure. For points near the sphere, the boundary-induced part dominates and the self-force is repulsive/attractive with respect to the boundary for Dirichlet/Neumann boundary condition. In the region outside the sphere at large distances from it, the boundary-free part in the self-energy dominates and the corresponding self-force can be either attractive or repulsive with dependence of the curvature coupling parameter for scalar field. In particular, for the minimal coupling we show the presence of a stable equilibrium point for the Dirichlet boundary condition. In the region inside the sphere, the nature of the self-force depends on the specific model for the monopole’s core. As illustrations of the general procedure adopted, we shall consider two distinct models, namely the flower-pot and the ballpoint-pen ones.

Fermionic Casimir densities in a conical space with a circular boundary and magnetic flux

The vacuum expectation value (VEV) of the energy-momentum tensor for a massive fermionic field is investigated in a ($2+1$)-dimensional conical spacetime in the presence of a circular boundary and an infinitely thin magnetic flux located at the cone apex. The MIT bag boundary condition is assumed on the circle. At the cone apex we consider a special case of boundary conditions for irregular modes, when the MIT bag boundary condition is imposed at a finite radius, which is then taken to zero. The presence of the magnetic flux leads to the Aharonov-Bohm-like effect on the VEV of the energy-momentum tensor. For both exterior and interior regions, the VEV is decomposed into boundary-free and boundary-induced parts. Both these parts are even periodic functions of the magnetic flux with the period equal to the flux quantum. The boundary-free part in the radial stress is equal to the energy density. Near the circle, the boundary-induced part in the VEV dominates and for a massless field the vacuum energy density is negative inside the circle and positive in the exterior region. Various special cases are considered.

FERMIONIC CONDENSATE AND INDUCED CURRENT IN A CONICAL SPACE WITH A CIRCULAR BOUNDARY AND MAGNETIC FLUX

The fermionic condensate and current density are investigated in a (2 + 1)-dimensional conical spacetime in the presence of a circular boundary and a magnetic flux. On the boundary the fermionic field obeys the MIT bag boundary condition. For irregular modes, we consider a special case of boundary conditions at the cone apex, when the MIT bag boundary condition is imposed at a finite radius, which is then taken to zero. The condensate and current are periodic functions of the magnetic flux with the period equal to the flux quantum. For both exterior and interior regions, the expectation values are decomposed into boundary-free and boundary-induced parts. In the case of a massless field the boundary-free part in the vacuum expectation value of the charge density vanishes, whereas the presence of the boundary induces nonzero charge density. At distances from the boundary larger than the Compton wavelength of the fermion particle, the condensate and current decay exponentially, with the decay rate depending on the opening angle of the cone.

Fermionic condensate in a conical space with a circular boundary and magnetic flux

The fermionic condensate is investigated in a (2+1)-dimensional conical spacetime in the presence of a circular boundary and a magnetic flux. It is assumed that on the boundary the fermionic field obeys the MIT bag boundary condition. For irregular modes, we consider a special case of boundary conditions at the cone apex, when the MIT bag boundary condition is imposed at a finite radius, which is then taken to zero. The fermionic condensate is a periodic function of the magnetic flux with the period equal to the flux quantum. For both exterior and interior regions, the fermionic condensate is decomposed into boundary-free and boundary-induced parts. Two integral representations are given for the boundary-free part for arbitrary values of the opening angle of the cone and magnetic flux. At distances from the boundary larger than the Compton wavelength of the fermion particle, the condensate decays exponentially with the decay rate depending on the opening angle of the cone. If the ratio of the magnetic flux to the flux quantum is not a half-integer number, for a massless field the boundary-free part in the fermionic condensate vanishes, whereas the boundary-induced part is negative. For half-integer values of the ratio of the magnetic flux to the flux quantum, the irregular mode gives non-zero contribution to the fermionic condensate in the boundary-free conical space.

Fermionic current densities induced by magnetic flux in a conical space with a circular boundary

We investigate the vacuum expectation value of the fermionic current induced by a magnetic flux in a ($2+1$)-dimensional conical spacetime in the presence of a circular boundary. On the boundary the fermionic field obeys the MIT bag boundary condition. For irregular modes, a special case of boundary conditions at the cone apex is considered, when the MIT bag boundary condition is imposed at a finite radius, which is then taken to zero. We observe that the vacuum expectation values for both the charge density and azimuthal current are periodic functions of the magnetic flux with the period equal to the flux quantum whereas the expectation value of the radial component vanishes. For both exterior and interior regions, the expectation values of the current are decomposed into boundary-free and boundary-induced parts. For a massless field the boundary-free part in the vacuum expectation value of the charge density vanishes, whereas the presence of the boundary induces nonzero charge density. Two integral representations are given for the boundary-free part in the case of a massive fermionic field for arbitrary values of the opening angle of the cone and magnetic flux. The behavior of the induced fermionic current is investigated in various asymptotic regions of the parameters. At distances from the boundary larger than the Compton wavelength of the fermion particle, the vacuum expectation values decay exponentially with the decay rate depending on the opening angle of the cone. We make a comparison with the results already known from the literature for some particular cases.

A summation formula over the zeros of a combination of the associated Legendre functions with a physical application

By using the generalized Abel–Plana formula, we derive a summation formula for the series over the zeros of a combination of the associated Legendre functions with respect to the degree. The summation formula for the series over the zeros of the combination of the Bessel functions, previously discussed in the literature, is obtained as a limiting case. As an application we evaluate the Wightman function for a scalar field with a general curvature coupling parameter in the region between concentric spherical shells on a background of constant negative curvature space. For the Dirichlet boundary conditions the corresponding mode-sum contains the series over the zeros of the combination of the associated Legendre functions. The application of the summation formula allows us to present the Wightman function in the form of the sum of two integrals. The first one corresponds to the Wightman function for the geometry of a single spherical shell and the second one is induced by the presence of the second shell. The boundary-induced part in the vacuum expectation value of the field squared is investigated. For points away from the boundaries the corresponding renormalization procedure is reduced to that for the boundary-free part.

A summation formula over the zeros of the associated Legendre function with a physical application

Associated Legendre functions arise in many problems of mathematical physics. By using the generalized Abel–Plana formula, in this paper we derive a summation formula for the series over the zeros of the associated Legendre function of the first kind with respect to the degree. The summation formula for the series over the zeros of the Bessel function, previously discussed in the literature, is obtained as a limiting case. The Wightman function for a scalar field with a general curvature coupling parameter is considered inside a spherical boundary on the background of a constant negative curvature space. The corresponding mode sum contains the series over the zeros of the associated Legendre function. The application of the summation formula allows us to present the Wightman function in the form of the sum of two integrals. The first one corresponds to the Wightman function for the bulk geometry without boundaries and the second one is induced by the presence of the spherical shell. For points away from the boundary the latter is finite in the coincidence limit. In this way the renormalization of the vacuum expectation value of the field squared is reduced to that for the boundary-free part.