{"title":"Are vacuum fluctuations relevant in absorption dynamics?","authors":"Pedro Sancho","doi":"10.1016/j.physleta.2024.130076","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Vacuum fluctuations play a central role in spontaneous emission. Recently, it has been suggested that these fluctuations could also be fundamental in the absorption dynamics, breaking the superposition inherent to the linear quantum evolution. We analyze the consistency of that proposal with previous results in double spontaneous emission. Moreover, for the case of single absorption by two atoms, we present a test based on the time dependence of the subsequent spontaneous emission patterns, which can experimentally settle the question. This test is more viable than the original proposal, built on the Casimir effect. Our approach also allows for the comparison between the time scales of vacuum fluctuations as a disentangling mechanism and an emission trigger.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20172,"journal":{"name":"Physics Letters A","volume":"529 ","pages":"Article 130076"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Physics Letters A","FirstCategoryId":"101","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0375960124007709","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PHYSICS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Vacuum fluctuations play a central role in spontaneous emission. Recently, it has been suggested that these fluctuations could also be fundamental in the absorption dynamics, breaking the superposition inherent to the linear quantum evolution. We analyze the consistency of that proposal with previous results in double spontaneous emission. Moreover, for the case of single absorption by two atoms, we present a test based on the time dependence of the subsequent spontaneous emission patterns, which can experimentally settle the question. This test is more viable than the original proposal, built on the Casimir effect. Our approach also allows for the comparison between the time scales of vacuum fluctuations as a disentangling mechanism and an emission trigger.
期刊介绍:
Physics Letters A offers an exciting publication outlet for novel and frontier physics. It encourages the submission of new research on: condensed matter physics, theoretical physics, nonlinear science, statistical physics, mathematical and computational physics, general and cross-disciplinary physics (including foundations), atomic, molecular and cluster physics, plasma and fluid physics, optical physics, biological physics and nanoscience. No articles on High Energy and Nuclear Physics are published in Physics Letters A. The journal''s high standard and wide dissemination ensures a broad readership amongst the physics community. Rapid publication times and flexible length restrictions give Physics Letters A the edge over other journals in the field.