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Main Authors: Milton, Kimball A., Pourtolami, Nima, Kennedy, Gerard
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.17793
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author Milton, Kimball A.
Pourtolami, Nima
Kennedy, Gerard
author_facet Milton, Kimball A.
Pourtolami, Nima
Kennedy, Gerard
contents This paper provides an overview of the nonequilibrium fluctuational forces and torques acting on a body either in motion or at rest relative to another body or to the thermal vacuum blackbody radiation. We consider forces and torques beyond the usual static Casimir-Polder and Casimir forces and torques. For a moving body, a retarding force emerges, called quantum or Casimir friction, which in vacuum was first predicted by Einstein and Hopf in 1910. Nonreciprocity may allow a stationary body, out of thermal equilibrium with its environment, to experience a torque. Moreover, if a stationary reciprocal body is not in thermal equilibrium with the blackbody vacuum, a self-propulsive force or torque can appear, resulting in a potentially observable linear or angular terminal velocity, even after thermalization.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_17793
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Perspectives on Quantum Friction, Self-Propulsion, and Self-Torque
Milton, Kimball A.
Pourtolami, Nima
Kennedy, Gerard
Quantum Physics
High Energy Physics - Theory
This paper provides an overview of the nonequilibrium fluctuational forces and torques acting on a body either in motion or at rest relative to another body or to the thermal vacuum blackbody radiation. We consider forces and torques beyond the usual static Casimir-Polder and Casimir forces and torques. For a moving body, a retarding force emerges, called quantum or Casimir friction, which in vacuum was first predicted by Einstein and Hopf in 1910. Nonreciprocity may allow a stationary body, out of thermal equilibrium with its environment, to experience a torque. Moreover, if a stationary reciprocal body is not in thermal equilibrium with the blackbody vacuum, a self-propulsive force or torque can appear, resulting in a potentially observable linear or angular terminal velocity, even after thermalization.
title Perspectives on Quantum Friction, Self-Propulsion, and Self-Torque
topic Quantum Physics
High Energy Physics - Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.17793