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14. The Power of Nothing
T Padmanabhan
T h e v a c u u m sta te o f th e e le c tr o m a g n e tic ¯ e ld is
fa r fr o m tr iv ia l. A m o n g st o th e r th in g s it c a n
e x e rt fo r c e s th a t a r e m e a su r a b le in th e la b , in a
c u r io u s p h e n o m e n o n k n o w n a s C a sim ir e ® ec t.
W e a ll k n ow th a t cla ssica l electro m a g n etic ¯ eld s ca n ex -
T Padmanabhan works at
ert fo rces o n ch a rg ed p a rticles. T h e sta n d a rd ex p ressio n
IUCAA, Pune and is
fo r th e cla ssica l fo rce is q (E + v £ B ) w h ich , o f co u rse, interested in all areas
va n ish es w h en E = B = 0 . T h a t so u n d s em in en tly rea - of theoretical physics,
so n a b le. especially those which
have something to do with
B u t th en , w e k n ow th a t th e rea l w o rld is q u a n tu m m e- gravity.
ch a n ica l in ch a ra cter a n d n o t cla ssica l, w h ich im p lies
th a t w e n eed to trea t th e electro m a g n etic ¯ eld a s a q u a n -
tu m en tity. W h en w e d o th a t, p h o to n s em erg e a s th e
q u a n ta o f electro m a g n etic ¯ eld . A s in th e ca se o f a n y
o th er q u a n tu m sy stem , e.g ., th e h y d ro g en a to m , o n e ca n
d escrib e th e p h y sics in term s o f th e q u a n tu m sta tes o f
th e electro m a g n etic ¯ eld . In th is la n g u a g e, o n e ca n a lso
d e¯ n e a sta te w ith zero p h o to n s w h ich co u ld b e th o u g h t
o f a s th e va cu u m sta te o f th e electro m a g n etic ¯ eld . O n e
w o u ld h av e im a g in ed th a t, if th ere a re n o p h o to n s, th en
th ere w ill b e n o m ea su ra b le p h y sica l e® ects d u e to th e
electro m a g n etic ¯ eld . W h ile th is is m o re o r less tru e {
w h ich is ra th er rea ssu rin g { th ere a re in d eed in terestin g
situ a tio n s in w h ich it is n ot tru e! W e w ill d escrib e o n e
su ch co n tex t, ca lled C a sim ir e® ect, in th is in sta llm en t.
T h e sim p lest, th o u g h a b it id ea lized , d escrip tio n o f C a si-
m ir e® ect is th e fo llow in g . S u p p o se y o u k eep tw o p a ra l- Keywords
lel, p erfectly co n d u ctin g p la tes in th e o th erw ise em p ty Harmonic oscillator, quantum
sp a ce, sep a ra ted b y a d ista n ce L . T h en , th ey w ill a ttra ct mechanics, electromagnetism.
Remember that
ea ch o th er w ith a fo rce
there are no net ¼ 2 ~c
F = ¡ A; (1 )
charges put on the 240 L 4
plates; we are not w h ere A is th e cro ss-sectio n a l a rea o f th e p la tes!! R e-
talking about a m em b er th a t th ere a re n o n et ch a rg es p u t o n th e p la tes;
charged parallel w e a re n o t ta lk in g a b o u t a charged p a ra llel p la te ca p a c-
plate capacitor. The ito r. T h e fo rce a cts b etw een tw o p la tes k ep t in th e va c-
force acts between u u m . T h is e® ect w a s p red icted [1 ] b y th e D u tch p h y si-
two plates kept in the cist H en d rick C a sim ir in 1 9 4 8 a n d h a s a ctu a lly b een
vacuum. m ea su red in th e la b [2 ]. O n e n ice w ay o f u n d ersta n d in g
th is resu lt is a s a ta n g ib le fo rce ex erted b y th e electro -
m a g n etic va cu u m . L et u s see h ow .
B efo re la u n ch in g in to m a th em a tics, let m e ex p la in th e
b a sic rea so n fo r th is p h en o m en o n in q u a lita tiv e term s.
C o n sid er th e fa m ilia r ex a m p le o f a h a rm o n ic o scilla to r,
w ith th e H a m ilto n ia n
1
H (p ;q ) = [p 2 + ! 2 q 2 ]: (2 )
2
W e h av e set th e m a ss o f th e p a rticle to u n ity fo r sim p lic-
ity. C la ssica lly, th e m in im u m en erg y fo r su ch a sy stem is
zero (E cla ss = 0 ), w h ich is a ch iev ed w h en q = p = 0 . W e
k n ow , h ow ev er, th a t th is is n o t p o ssib le in q u a n tu m th e-
o ry, essen tia lly b eca u se o f th e u n certa in ty p rin cip le. T o
m in im ize th e p o ten tia l en erg y, w e n eed to set q = 0 ; b u t
if w e k n ow th e p o sitio n to su ch in ¯ n ite p recisio n , th e
m o m en tu m w ill b e in ¯ n itely u n certa in a n d w e ca n n o t
g u a ra n tee a low va lu e fo r p 2 = 2 ! S o to m in im ize th e to ta l
en erg y, w e n eed to a llow fo r so m e a m o u n t o f ° u ctu a tio n
To minimize the total
in b o th q a n d p th a t is co m m en su ra te w ith th e u n cer-
energy, we need to ta in ty p rin cip le ¢ p ¢ q & ~. T h e resu ltin g g ro u n d sta te,
allow for some a s w e k n ow , h a s a n o n -zero en erg y E q u a n t = (1= 2 )~! .
amount of fluctuation
in both q and p that S u p p o se w e co n sid er a d i® eren t p h y sica l sy stem w ith th e
is commensurate H a m ilto n ia n H n ew = H (p ;q) ¡ (1 = 2 )~! w h ere H (p ;q) is
with the uncertainty g iv en b y (2 ). S in ce th e su b tra ctio n o f a co n sta n t fro m
principle Δp Δq &
th e H a m ilto n ia n d o es n o t ch a n g e th e eq u a tio n s o f m o -
~.
tio n , w e still a g a in h av e a h a rm o n ic o scilla to r b u t w ith
@ 2Á @ 2Á
¡ = 0: (3 )
@ t2 @x2
(W e h av e ch o sen u n its w ith c = 1 . In 3 -d im en sio n s,
th e seco n d term w o u ld h av e b een ¡ r 2 Á w h ich b eco m es
¡ (@ 2 Á = @ x 2 ) w h en w e ig n o re tw o sp a tia l co o rd in a tes.)
T h is eq u a tio n ca n b e sim p li¯ ed b y in tro d u cin g th e sp a -
tia l F o u rier tra n sfo rm Q k o f Á (t;x ) b y
Z1
dk
Á (t;x ) = Q k (t) ex p (ik x ): (4 )
¡1 (2¼ )
jà (a )j2 ¡ 2 2
¢
R = = ex p ¡ ! [a ¡ b ] : (8 )
jà (b)j2
N ow su p p o se w e h av e a qu an tu m ¯ eld w h ich is in th e
g ro u n d sta te a n d w e m ea su re th e ¯ eld ev ery w h ere a t,
say, t = 0 . T h en , th ere is so m e p ro b a b ility th a t w e
w ill g et a ¯ eld co n ¯ g u ra tio n d escrib ed b y th e fu n ctio n
Á (0;x ) = f 1 (x ) a n d so m e o th er p ro b a b ility th a t ¯ eld
co n ¯ g u ra tio n is d escrib ed b y th e fu n ctio n Á (0;x ) = f 2 (x ).
J u st a s in th e p rev io u s ca se, w e w a n t to k n ow th e rela -
tiv e p ro b a b ility o f g ettin g o n e co n ¯ g u ra tio n co m p a red to
a n o th er. T o ¯ n d th is, w e ¯ rst o b ta in th e sp a tia l F o u rier
tra n sfo rm s o f f 1 (x ) a n d f 2 (x ) a n d ca ll th em a k a n d b k .
T h en th e rela tiv e p ro b a b ility is g iv en b y
µ Z1 ¶
jª (f 1 (x ))j2 dk 2 2
For any choice of f1(x) R = = ex p ¡ ! k [a k ¡ b k ] : (9 )
jª (f 2 (x ))j2 ¡1 (2¼ )
and f2(x) the number R
can be computed, F o r a n y ch o ice o f f 1 (x ) a n d f 2 (x ) th e a b ov e n u m b er ca n
allowing us to b e co m p u ted , a llow in g u s to d eterm in e th e p ro b a b ilities
determine the o f d i® eren t ¯ eld co n ¯ g u ra tio n s in th e va cu u m sta te.
probabilities of
different field
Y o u w o u ld h av e n o ticed th a t w e sw itch ed to rela tiv e
configurations in the
p ro b a b ilities ra th er th a n a b so lu te p ro b a b ilities in th is
d iscu ssio n . F o r a sin g le h a rm o n ic o scilla to r, o n e co u ld
vacuum state.
h av e sa id th a t jà (q )j2 d q g iv es th e a b so lu te p ro b a b ility
Z Z ½ ¾
1 3 3 r x Á ¢r y Á
= d x d y : (1 1 )
2¼ 2 jx ¡ y j2
X1 h ¼x i
Á (t;x ) = q n (t) sin n (1 3 )
n= 1
L
so th a t th e b o u n d a ry co n d itio n s a t x = 0 a n d x = L a re
sa tis¯ ed . W e still h av e to d ea l w ith a n in ¯ n ite n u m b er o f
o scilla to rs b u t th eir freq u en cies a re n ow g iv en b y ! n =
k n = n (¼ = L ).
If w e n ow w o rk o u t th e co rresp o n d in g g ro u n d sta te, it
w ill clea rly b e d i® eren t fro m th e o n e d escrib ed b y (7 )
b eca u se th e in teg ra l ov er k w ill b e rep la ced b y th e su m
1X 1X
1 1
0
E 0 = ~! n = ~(n ¼ = L ) (1 5 )
2 n= 0 2 n= 0
1 1
= ¡ + O (¸ 2 ) = ¡ (2 0 )
12 12
w h en ¸ ! 0 . T h is a llow s u s to o b ta in th e fo llow in g
rem a rka b le resu lt:
¼~
E (L ) ´ (E 00 ¡ E 0 ) ´ lim (E 00(¸ ) ¡ E 0 (¸ )) = ¡ :
¸! 0 24L
(2 1 )
S o w e see th a t th e g ro u n d sta te en erg y o f th e sy stem
w ith th e p la tes { w h en reg u la rized b y su b tra ctin g aw ay
th e en erg y in th e a b sen ce o f th e p la tes { is a n eg a tiv e
n u m b er1 a n d is in v ersely p ro p o rtio n a l to th e sep a ra tio n
1
b etw een th e p la tes! C lea rly, th is w ill lea d to a n a ttra c- With this `regularization',
quantum ¯eld theorists of-
tiv e fo rce F = ¡ (d E = d L ) / L ¡2 b etw een th e p la tes, ten conclude that the sum
sin ce red u cin g th e sep a ra tio n b etw een th e p la tes lea d s of all positive integers is
to th e low erin g o f th e en erg y. A m o re p h y sica l w ay o f not only ¯nite but is a neg-
th in k in g a b o u t th is resu lt is a s fo llow s. If w e ch a n g e th e ative fraction (¡ 1= 12)! If
sep a ra tio n b etw een th e p la tes b y a n a m o u n t ¢ L , th e you are familiar with Rie-
mann-zeta
P1 function, ³ (x )
en erg y o f th e co n ¯ g u ra tio n w ill ch a n g e b y (d E = d L )¢ L = n = 1 n ¡ x , you will reco-
w h ich m u st b e a cco u n ted b y th e w o rk d o n e b y th e a g en cy gnize that the sum of all
sep a ra tin g th e p la tes a ctin g a g a in st th e a ttra ctiv e fo rce positive integers is formally
F . E q u a tin g it to ¡ F ¢ L , w e ¯ n d th a t F = ¡ d E = d L . the same as ³ (¡ 1). One
can de¯ne this quantity by
In th e m y th ica l w o rld o f o n e sp a tia l d im en sio n , th e p la tes analytic continuation in
a re zero -d im en sio n a l p o in ts w h ich is n o t o f m u ch u se. the complex plane and one
does recover the result
T h e co rresp o n d in g ca lcu la tio n fo r electro m a g n etic ¯ eld ³ (¡ 1) = ¡ 1= 12. Of course,
in 3 -d im en sio n s is m o re co m p lica ted a lg eb ra ica lly b u t this does not make one any
a ll th e co n cep ts rem a in th e sa m e. T h e ¯ n a l resu lt in wiser as to what is going
th is ca se is a n ex p ressio n fo r en erg y p er u n it tra n sv erse on.
a rea o f th e p la tes, g iv en b y :
(E 00 ¡ E 0 ) ¼ 2 ~c
= ¡ ; (2 2 )
A 720 L 3
w h ere w e h av e re-in tro d u ced th e c fa cto r. T h e fo rce p er
u n it a rea a ctin g b etw een th e p la tes is g iv en b y
F d (E 00 ¡ E 0 ) ¼ 2 ~c
= ¡ = ¡ : (2 3 )
A dL A 240 L 4
T h is tin y fo rce h a s a ctu a lly b een m ea su red in th e la b !
N o te th a t, th o u g h th e resu lt is electro m a g n etic b y n a -
tu re, it is in d ep en d en t o f th e electro n ic ch a rg e e. T h e