Qubit motion as a microscopic model for the dynamical Casimir effect
Journal article, 2021

The generation of photons from the vacuum by means of the movement of a mirror is known as the dynamical Casimir effect (DCE). In general, this phenomenon is effectively described by a field with time-dependent boundary conditions. Alternatively, we introduce a microscopic model of the DCE capable of capturing the essential features of the effect with no time-dependent boundary conditions. Besides the field, such a model comprises a subsystem representing the mirror's internal structure. In this work, we study one of the most straightforward mirror systems: a qubit moving in a cavity and coupled to one of the bosonic modes. We find that under certain conditions on the qubit's movement that do not depend on its physical properties, a large number of photons may be generated without changing the qubit state, as should be expected for a microscopic model of the mirror.

Author

A. Agusti

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Laura García Álvarez

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Applied Quantum Physics

E. Solano

Shanghai University

University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)

Basque Foundation for Science (Ikerbasque)

Kipu Quantum

C. Sabin

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Physical Review A

24699926 (ISSN) 24699934 (eISSN)

Vol. 103 6 062201

Subject Categories

Applied Mechanics

Computational Mathematics

Other Physics Topics

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevA.103.062201

More information

Latest update

3/21/2023