Dynamical local and nonlocal Casimir atomic phases

François Impens, Claudio Ccapa Ttira, Ryan O. Behunin, Paulo A.Maia Neto

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

We develop an open-system dynamical theory of the Casimir interaction between coherent atomic waves and a material surface. The system, the external atomic waves, disturbs the environment, the electromagnetic field and the atomic dipole degrees of freedom, in a nonlocal manner by leaving footprints on distinct paths of the atom interferometer. This induces a nonlocal dynamical phase depending simultaneously on two distinct paths, beyond usual atom-optics methods and comparable to the local dynamical phase corrections. Nonlocal and local atomic phase coherences are thus equally important to capture the interplay between the external atomic motion and the Casimir interaction. Such dynamical phases are obtained for finite-width wave packets by developing a diagrammatic expansion of the disturbed environment quantum state.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number022516
JournalPhysical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
Volume89
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 26 2014
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

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