Erlangen 2022 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 16: Quantum Effects I
Q 16.8: Talk
Tuesday, March 15, 2022, 12:15–12:30, Q-H13
Probing the Quantum Vacuum in Space and Time — •Frieder Lindel1, Robert Bennett2, Francesca Fabiana Settembrini3, Alexa Marina Herter3, Jérôme Faist3, and Stefan Yoshi Buhmann4 — 1Instiute of Mathematics and Physics, University of Freiburg, Germany — 2School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom — 3Institute of Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, Switzerland — 4Institute of Physics, University of Kassel, Germany
When quantising the electromagnetic radiation field, one of the most fascinating consequences is the existence of fluctuations associated with the ground state. These vacuum fluctuations manifest themselves indirectly through their influence on matter where they may be regarded as responsible for fundamental processes such as spontaneous emission or the Lamb shift. More recently, an alternative route to observing the quantum vacuum has been developed in electro-optic sampling experiments [1,2].
In my talk, I will show how vacuum correlations between individually chosen space-time regions can be accessed in electro-optics sampling experiments. I will argue that this makes it possible to observe retardation effects, cavity-induced changes and correlations between causally separated regions of the quantum vacuum.
[1] C. Riek et al., Science 350, 420 (2015)
[2] I.-C. Benea-Chelmus et al., Nature 568, 7751 (2019)