Nonequilibrium quantum fluctuations of a dispersive medium: Spontaneous emission, photon statistics, entropy generation, and stochastic motion
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PhysRevA.90.012515.pdf
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323.15 KB
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Author(s)
Maghrebi, Mohammad F.
Jaffe, Robert L.
Kardar, Mehran
Date Issued
July 2014
Journal
Physical Review A
Publisher
American Physical Society
Citation
Maghrebi, Mohammad F., Robert L. Jaffe, and Mehran Kardar. “Nonequilibrium Quantum Fluctuations of a Dispersive Medium: Spontaneous Emission, Photon Statistics, Entropy Generation, and Stochastic Motion.” Phys. Rev. A 90, no. 1 (July 2014). © 2014 American Physical Society
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Final published version
Abstract
We study the implications of quantum fluctuations of a dispersive medium, under steady rotation, either in or out of thermal equilibrium with its environment. A rotating object exhibits a quantum instability by dissipating its mechanical motion via spontaneous emission of photons, as well as internal heat generation. Universal relations are derived for the radiated energy and angular momentum as trace formulas involving the object's scattering matrix. We also compute the quantum noise by deriving the full statistics of the radiated photons out of thermal and/or dynamic equilibrium. The (entanglement) entropy generation is quantified and the total entropy is shown to be always increasing. Furthermore, we derive a Fokker-Planck equation governing the stochastic angular motion resulting from the fluctuating backreaction frictional torque. As a result, we find a quantum limit on the uncertainty of the object's angular velocity in steady rotation. Finally, we show in some detail that a rotating object drags nearby objects, making them spin parallel to its axis of rotation. A scalar toy model is introduced to simplify the technicalities and ease the conceptual complexities and then a detailed discussion of quantum electrodynamics is presented.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.90.012515
