{"id":3722,"date":"2026-02-08T13:44:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T10:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psi-net.ir\/en\/?p=3722"},"modified":"2026-02-08T13:44:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T10:14:21","slug":"the-first-experimental-observation-of-the-dynamical-casimir-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psi-net.ir\/en\/the-first-experimental-observation-of-the-dynamical-casimir-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"The first experimental observation of the dynamical Casimir effect"},"content":{"rendered":"
In the mysterious world of quantum mechanics, vacuum is not an empty and lifeless space; Rather, it is a dynamic scene of quantum fluctuations in which virtual particles are continuously born and destroyed.<\/p>\n

This fundamental concept is the basis of Casimir’s work. The static version of this phenomenon was predicted in 1948 by Hendrik Casimir, while the dynamic version was first proposed in 1970 by Gerald T. Moore was suggested. In the static version of this work, it is predicted that if two conductive plates without charge are placed near each other in vacuum, they will be drawn towards each other because due to the boundary conditions of the problem, only certain wavelengths of virtual photons are formed and destroyed between these two mirrors, this difference between the two environments – between the two plates and outside of the two plates – causes a force to be applied to each of the plates towards each other because the pressure caused by the virtual particles in the space between them is less than outside.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\uddee This force is expressed as follows after approximation:<\/p>\n

F = – (\u03c0\u00b2 \u210f c) \/ (240 a\u2074)<\/p>\n

Parameters:
\n\u2022 F: the force of attraction between the plates
\n\u2022 \u210f : Planck’s reduced constant
\n\u2022 c: speed of light in vacuum
\n\u2022 a: distance between two pages<\/p>\n

This effect was observed and measured for the first time in 1998. \u2705<\/p>\n

But the dynamic version of Casimir’s work, which is the subject of this exciting news, goes a step further:<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd2d If one of these plates moves at a speed comparable to the speed of light, the virtual photons cannot adapt quickly enough to this change and separate from their pairs and do not annihilate. As a result, these virtual particles become real photons and we will witness an amazing phenomenon. Produce light from vacuum!<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd2c A team of researchers from Chalmers University of Sweden, led by Christopher Wilson, observed this phenomenon experimentally for the first time. Instead of physically moving the plates at a relativistic speed [relativistic speeds are very challenging to achieve even on a laboratory scale], they used a 100 micrometer electrical transmission line connected to a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID).<\/p>\n

\ud83e\uddea A short explanation about SQUID:
\nIn this experiment, researchers used a device called “SQUID” which stands for “Superconducting Quantum Interference Device” to simulate this phenomenon. Squids are considered the most sensitive instruments for measuring magnetic fields in the world and can detect magnetic fields up to a billion times weaker than the Earth’s magnetic field. This device works by taking advantage of the phenomenon of superconductivity and quantum effects, and in this experiment it played the role of a “moving quantum mirror”.<\/p>\n

In this experiment, the researchers modulated the SQUID at gigahertz frequencies, changing the electrical length of the line and effectively simulating a moving electromagnetic plate. With a displacement of only one nanometer, this plate reached a speed equal to 5% of the speed of light, and microwave photons were produced at a temperature close to absolute zero. Exactly as the dynamical version of the theory predicted.<\/p>\n

A more accurate formula for the wavelength of the radiation photon in the Dynamic Casimir Effect:<\/p>\n

In standard models, photons are often produced in pairs and their frequency (\u03c9) is related by the following relation:
\n\u03c9 \u2248 \u03a9 \/ 2
\nHence, the wavelength of the radiation photon:
\n\u03bb \u2248 4 \u03c0 c \/ \u03a9<\/p>\n

Introduction of parameters:
\n\u03bb: wavelength of the radiation photon
\nc: speed of light in vacuum
\n\u03a9: frequency of mechanical modulation of the boundary<\/p>\n

Relationship with page speed:
\nVelocity (v) appears directly in the rate of production of photons, not in the fundamental wavelength. Therefore, with increasing speed, the number of photons increases, but the wavelength \u03bb depends on \u03a9, which itself is derived from v
\n.
\nIn the non-relativistic regime (v \u226a c), which applies to most experiments, the wavelength of photons is of the order \u03bb \u2248 c \/ (\u03a9 \/ (2 \u03c0)) or larger (for macroscopic mirrors, often in the microwave range or lower).
\nIf the velocity approaches the relativistic limit (v \u2248 c), the formulas become more complicated and we need more relativistic corrections, but in real experiments (such as the SQUID experiment with an effective velocity of 5% c), the non-relativistic approximation is sufficient.
\nThese formulas are derived from theoretical models such as the Bogoliubov transformation for the quantum field, where the boundary motion mixes the photon creation and annihilation operators.<\/p>\n

This discovery is not only a confirmation of the principles of quantum mechanics, but also opens the door to a deeper understanding of vacuum fluctuations and the production of real particles from “nothing”.<\/p>\n

\n\ud83d\udd17 Link to source<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the mysterious world of quantum mechanics, vacuum is not an empty and lifeless space; Rather, it is a dynamic scene of quantum fluctuations in which virtual particles are continuously born and destroyed. This fundamental concept is the basis of Casimir’s work. The static version of this phenomenon was predicted in 1948 by Hendrik Casimir, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[196],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psi-net.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psi-net.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psi-net.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psi-net.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psi-net.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3722"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/psi-net.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3753,"href":"https:\/\/psi-net.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3722\/revisions\/3753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psi-net.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psi-net.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psi-net.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}