A quantum top in a Casimir-induced quadrupole field

Author(s)
Fitzgerald, Eric Andrew Vitus
Thumbnail
DownloadFull printable version (1.859Mb)
Alternative title
Casimir effect on a quantum top
Other Contributors
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.
Advisor
Robert L. Jaffe.
Terms of use
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. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Metadata
Show full item record
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.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2011.
 
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
 
Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-38).
 
Date issued
2011
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/68881
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Physics.
Collections