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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.01635 |
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| _version_ | 1866908747418304512 |
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| author | Lorenzi, Francesco Pelizzo, Maria Guglielmina Salasnich, Luca |
| author_facet | Lorenzi, Francesco Pelizzo, Maria Guglielmina Salasnich, Luca |
| contents | Optical cavities with moving mirrors provide a versatile platform for exploring radiation-matter interactions and optically mediated mechanical effects, whose control has wide technological implications. However, capturing the coupled dynamics of the electromagnetic field and of the mirror within a consistent theoretical framework remains challenging. We analyze the problem of the coupling between classical electromagnetic fields in a cavity and a movable mirror, considering both nonrelativistic and relativistic regimes of motion. Starting from the equations of motion for a mirror subject to a generic external potential, we provide a variational formulation of the mirror-radiation interaction. Within this framework, a single-mode variational approximation is introduced, which captures the essential dynamical features of the coupled system. In the special case of a mirror undergoing free motion, the variational method yields an exact solution. This unified treatment highlights the connection between different dynamical regimes and provides a basis for analyzing applications ranging from precision interferometry to relativistic radiation-pressure effects. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_01635 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Variational treatment of the electromagnetic field in an optical cavity with a moving mirror Lorenzi, Francesco Pelizzo, Maria Guglielmina Salasnich, Luca Optics Optical cavities with moving mirrors provide a versatile platform for exploring radiation-matter interactions and optically mediated mechanical effects, whose control has wide technological implications. However, capturing the coupled dynamics of the electromagnetic field and of the mirror within a consistent theoretical framework remains challenging. We analyze the problem of the coupling between classical electromagnetic fields in a cavity and a movable mirror, considering both nonrelativistic and relativistic regimes of motion. Starting from the equations of motion for a mirror subject to a generic external potential, we provide a variational formulation of the mirror-radiation interaction. Within this framework, a single-mode variational approximation is introduced, which captures the essential dynamical features of the coupled system. In the special case of a mirror undergoing free motion, the variational method yields an exact solution. This unified treatment highlights the connection between different dynamical regimes and provides a basis for analyzing applications ranging from precision interferometry to relativistic radiation-pressure effects. |
| title | Variational treatment of the electromagnetic field in an optical cavity with a moving mirror |
| topic | Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.01635 |