Recent Developments in the Theory of Dynamical Casimir Effect

by Prof. Victor Dodonov (University of Brasilia, Brazil)

Thursday 2 Oct 2008, 15:00 → 16:00 Europe/Rome

Aula Majorana (Dip. di Fisica - Edificio G. Marconi)

This is a brief review of some recent achievements in the theory of dynamical Casimir effect, mainly in connection with the MIR experiment which is under preparation in the University of Padova. The first part of the talk is devoted to new results in the theory of quantum damped oscillator with arbitrary time dependence of the frequency and damping coefficient (it serves to describe the dynamics of the field mode in the cavity with time-dependent parameters). New formulas for the mean number of created photons, its fluctuations and the photon distribution function are obtained. The asymptotical quantum state of the field mode belongs to the class of so called "super-chaotic" states. The second part is devoted to calculations of the time-dependent shift of resonance frequency of an electromagnetic cavity due to strong variations of dielectric properties in a thin layer near an ideally conducting wall. A simple analytical formula for this shift is derived. It generalizes the known Schwinger--Bethe--Casimir result. It is applied to the special cases of TE and TM modes in cavities of different shapes. The influence of different parameters on the photon generation rate is discussed.