A quantum top in a Casimir-induced quadrupole field

dc.contributor.advisor	Robert L. Jaffe.	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Fitzgerald, Eric Andrew Vitus	en_US
dc.contributor.other	Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2012-01-30T16:57:07Z
dc.date.available	2012-01-30T16:57:07Z
dc.date.copyright	2011	en_US
dc.date.issued	2011	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/68881
dc.description	Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2011.	en_US
dc.description	Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.	en_US
dc.description	Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-38).	en_US
dc.description.abstract	The Casimir energy is the change in energy of a configuration of objects due to second quantization of the electromagnetic field. The Casimir energy of a dielectric object inside a perfectly conducting sphere was recently analyzed [1]. Building on this result, I calculate the changes in energy levels of a quantum top inside a cavity after promoting the Casimir energy to a quantum Hamiltonian. I apply the result to a diatomic molecule and find the changes in the spectroscopy induced by the Casimir effect. This can potentially provide an additional experimental probe into the Casimir effect.	en_US
dc.description.statementofresponsibility	by Eric Andrew Vitus Fitzgerald.	en_US
dc.format.extent	38 p.	en_US
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.publisher	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	en_US
dc.rights	M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.	en_US
dc.rights.uri	http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582	en_US
dc.subject	Physics.	en_US
dc.title	A quantum top in a Casimir-induced quadrupole field	en_US
dc.title.alternative	Casimir effect on a quantum top	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US
dc.description.degree	S.M.	en_US
dc.contributor.department	Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.	en_US
dc.identifier.oclc	773356217	en_US