In this paper we study the dissipative effects and decoherence induced on a particle moving at constant speed in front of a dielectric plate in quantum vacuum, developing a Closed-Time-Path (CTP) integral formulation in order to account for the corrections to these phenomena generated by finite temperatures. We compute the frictional force of the moving particle and find that it contains two different contributions: a pure quantum term due to quantum fluctuations (even present at vanishing temperatures) and a temperature dependent component generated by thermal fluctuations (bigger contribution the higher the temperature). We further estimate the decoherence timescale for the internal degree of freedom of the quantum particle. As expected, decoherence time is reduced by temperature, however, this feature is stronger for large velocities and for resonant situations. When the particle approaches relativistic speed, decoherence time becomes independent of temperature. The finite temperatures corrections to the force or even in the decoherence timescale could be used to track traces of quantum friction through the study of the velocity dependence since the solely evidence of this dependence provides an indirect testimony of the existence of a quantum frictional force.

Spatially separated bodies in a relative motion through vacuum experience a tiny friction force known as quantum friction (QF). This force has so far eluded experimental detection due to its small magnitude and short range. Quantitative details revealing traces of the QF in the degradation of the quantum coherence of a particle are presented. Environmentally induced decoherence for a particle sliding over a dielectric sheet can be decomposed into contributions of different signatures: one solely induced by the electromagnetic vacuum in the presence of the dielectric and another induced by motion. As the geometric phase (GP) has been proved to be a fruitful venue of investigation to infer features of the quantum systems, herein it is proposed to use the accumulated GP acquired by a particle as a QF sensor. Furthermore, an innovative experiment designed to track traces of QF by measuring the velocity dependence of corrections to the GP and coherence is proposed. The experimentally viable scheme presented can spark renewed optimism for the detection of non‐contact friction, with the hope that this non‐equilibrium phenomenon can be readily measured soon.

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