Dynamical Casimir-Polder interaction between a chiral molecule and a surface

Pablo Barcellona, Roberto Passante, Lucia Rizzuto, and Stefan Yoshi Buhmann
Phys. Rev. A 93, 032508 – Published 16 March 2016

Abstract

We develop a dynamical approach to study the Casimir-Polder force between an initially bare molecule and a magnetodielectric body at finite temperature, valid for arbitrary magnetodielectric properties and also in the presence of chiral effects. Switching on the interaction between the molecule and the field at a particular time, we study the resulting temporal evolution of the Casimir-Polder interaction. The dynamical self-dressing of the molecule and its population-induced dynamics are accounted for and discussed. In particular, we find that the Casimir-Polder force between a molecule and a surface oscillates in time with a frequency related to the molecular transition frequency. We verify that the dynamical force converges to the static result for time much larger than the inverse of the transition frequency, and it is particularly strong around the back-reaction time t=2d/c, the time needed for the molecule to emit and reabsorb a photon reflected by the surface.

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  • Received 4 December 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.93.032508

©2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalGeneral Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Pablo Barcellona*

  • Physikalisches Institut, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Strasse 3, 79104 Freiburg, Germany

Roberto Passante and Lucia Rizzuto3,‡

  • Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica, Università degli Studi di Palermo and CNISM, Via Archirafi 36, I-90123 Palermo, Italy and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, I-95123 Catania, Italy

Stefan Yoshi Buhmann§

  • Physikalisches Institut, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Strasse 3, 79104 Freiburg, Germany and Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Albertstrasse 19, 79104 Freiburg, Germany

  • *pablo.barcellona@physik.uni-freiburg.de
  • roberto.passante@unipa.it
  • lucia.rizzuto@unipa.it
  • §stefan.buhmann@physik.uni-freiburg.de

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Issue

Vol. 93, Iss. 3 — March 2016

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