Casimir friction force and energy dissipation for moving harmonic oscillators. II

• Published in: The European physical journal. D, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 2011, Vol.61 (2), p.335-339
• Main Authors: Høye, J. S., Brevik, I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applications of Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos Theory; Atomic; Atomic and molecular physics; Calculations and mathematical techniques in atomic and molecular physics (excluding electron correlation calculations); Electronic structure of atoms, molecules and their ions: theory; Energy dissipation; Exact sciences and technology; Friction; Harmonic oscillators; Joining; Mathematical analysis; Molecular; Optical and Plasma Physics; Oscillators; Perturbation methods; Perturbation theory; Physical Chemistry; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Quantum Information Technology; Quantum Physics; Spectroscopy/Spectrometry; Spintronics
• ISSN: 1434-6060; 1434-6079
• DOI: 10.1140/epjd/e2010-10652-6

. This paper is a second in a series devoted to the study of a two-oscillator system in linear relative motion (the first one published as a letter in [J.S. Høye, I. Brevik, Europhys. Lett. 91 , 60003 (2010)]). The main idea behind considering this kind of system is to use it as a simple model for Casimir friction. In the present paper we extend our previous theory so as to obtain the change in the oscillator energy to second order in the perturbation, even though we employ first order perturbation theory only. The results agree with, and confirm, our earlier results obtained via different routes. The friction force is finite at finite temperatures, whereas in the case of two oscillators moving with constant relative velocity the force becomes zero at zero temperature, due to slowly varying coupling.