Speaker
Description
An atom defect attached to the surface of a vibrating, micron-scale membrane can experience accelerations comparable to the surface gravity of a neutron star. As one example application, we show how one can feasibly generate and detect photons from the electromagnetic vacuum as a result of the non-inertial membrane motion. In another existing table-top set-up comprising a non-linear electromagnetic transmission line, we show the existence of propagating soliton wave solutions that form analogues of black-white hole horizon pairs, with photons generated from the electromagnetic vacuum in the vicinity of the horizons. As a result, the otherwise stable solitons should evaporate as they propagate along the transmission line; evaluating the soliton evaporation backreaction process fully within quantum field theory (as opposed to semiclassically) is an interesting theory challenge. Such table-top investigations can help shed light on the interplay between gravity and quantum matter/radiation fields under conditions where particle production from vacuum is relevant.
