Wednesday, July 18, 2012

1207.3833 (Stefano Finazzi et al.)

Quantum vacuum emission in a nonlinear optical medium illuminated by a
strong laser pulse
   [PDF]

Stefano Finazzi, Iacopo Carusotto
A strong light pulse propagating in a nonlinear Kerr medium produces a change in the refractive index, which makes light travel at different speeds inside and outside the pulse. By tuning the pulse velocity, an analogue black hole horizon can be obtained in a suitable frequency window. In this paper, we develop a quantum theory of light propagation for this system, including the frequency dispersion of the refractive index of the medium by coupling the electromagnetic field to matter polarization fields. In a configuration with a single black horizon, the spectrum of spontaneously emitted particles presents a few similarities with Hawking radiation. In horizonless system spontaneous vacuum emission is still possible due to the dispersive nature of the medium, yet with different spectral properties.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1207.3833

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