dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaSonoluminescence as a QED vacuum effect: Probing Schwinger's proposal
| Authors | S. Liberati, F. Belgiorno, Matt Visser, D. W. Sciama |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/9805031 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9805031 |
| DOI | 10.1088/0305-4470/33/11/307 |
| Journal | J.Phys.A33:2251-2272,2000 |
Abstract
Several years ago Schwinger proposed a physical mechanism for sonoluminescence in terms of photon production due to changes in the properties of the quantum-electrodynamic (QED) vacuum arising from a collapsing dielectric bubble. This mechanism can be re-phrased in terms of the Casimir effect and has recently been the subject of considerable controversy. The present paper probes Schwinger's suggestion in detail: Using the sudden approximation we calculate Bogolubov coefficients relating the QED vacuum in the presence of the expanded bubble to that in the presence of the collapsed bubble. In this way we derive an estimate for the spectrum and total energy emitted. We verify that in the sudden approximation there is an efficient production of photons, and further that the main contribution to this dynamic Casimir effect comes from a volume term, as per Schwinger's original calculation. However, we also demonstrate that the timescales required to implement Schwinger's original suggestion are not physically relevant to sonoluminescence. Although Schwinger was correct in his assertion that changes in the zero-point energy lead to photon production, nevertheless his original model is not appropriate for sonoluminescence. In other works (see quant-ph/9805023, quant-ph/9904013, quant-ph/9904018, quant-ph/9905034) we have developed a variant of Schwinger's model that is compatible with the physically required timescales.
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"abstract": "Several years ago Schwinger proposed a physical mechanism for\nsonoluminescence in terms of photon production due to changes in the properties\nof the quantum-electrodynamic (QED) vacuum arising from a collapsing dielectric\nbubble. This mechanism can be re-phrased in terms of the Casimir effect and has\nrecently been the subject of considerable controversy. The present paper probes\nSchwinger\u0027s suggestion in detail: Using the sudden approximation we calculate\nBogolubov coefficients relating the QED vacuum in the presence of the expanded\nbubble to that in the presence of the collapsed bubble. In this way we derive\nan estimate for the spectrum and total energy emitted. We verify that in the\nsudden approximation there is an efficient production of photons, and further\nthat the main contribution to this dynamic Casimir effect comes from a volume\nterm, as per Schwinger\u0027s original calculation. However, we also demonstrate\nthat the timescales required to implement Schwinger\u0027s original suggestion are\nnot physically relevant to sonoluminescence. Although Schwinger was correct in\nhis assertion that changes in the zero-point energy lead to photon production,\nnevertheless his original model is not appropriate for sonoluminescence. In\nother works (see quant-ph/9805023, quant-ph/9904013, quant-ph/9904018,\nquant-ph/9905034) we have developed a variant of Schwinger\u0027s model that is\ncompatible with the physically required timescales.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/9805031",
"authors": [
"S. Liberati",
"F. Belgiorno",
"Matt Visser",
"D. W. Sciama"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph",
"cond-mat",
"hep-ph",
"hep-th"
],
"doi": "10.1088/0305-4470/33/11/307",
"journal_ref": "J.Phys.A33:2251-2272,2000",
"title": "Sonoluminescence as a QED vacuum effect: Probing Schwinger\u0027s proposal",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9805031"
},
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