研究目的

To demonstrate that Unruh-DeWitt harmonic-oscillator detectors in (1+1) dimensions derivative-coupled with a massless scalar field can mimic atom mirrors in free space, dynamically determining reflectivity without introducing Dirichlet boundary conditions, and to explore the Casimir effect in a cavity model constructed with such detector mirrors.

研究成果

The study demonstrates that Unruh-DeWitt detectors can effectively mimic atom mirrors, with reflectivity dynamically determined by the interaction between the detector's internal oscillator and the field. In the strong coupling regime, the detector mirrors can reflect a broad frequency range of the quantum field. A cavity model with two such mirrors shows that the quantum field inside evolves to a quasidiscrete spectrum, resulting in a negative Casimir energy density at late times. The findings highlight the potential of using Unruh-DeWitt detectors to model atom mirrors and explore quantum field phenomena in cavity settings.

研究不足

The study is limited to (1+1) dimensions and assumes a massless scalar field. The numerical calculations require a sufficiently large UV cutoff for the Casimir energy density to converge, and the model's validity may be constrained by the strength of the oscillator-field coupling.