The microscopic theory of superconductivity raised the disruptive idea that electrons couple through the elusive exchange of virtual phonons, overcoming the strong Coulomb repulsion to form Cooper pairs. Light is also known to interact with atomic vibrations, as, for example, in the Raman effect. We show that photon pairs exchange virtual vibrations in transparent media, leading to an effective photon-photon interaction identical to that for electrons in the BCS theory of superconductivity, in spite of the fact that photons are bosons. In this scenario, photons may exchange energy without matching a quantum of vibration of the medium. As a result, pair correlations for photons scattered away from the Raman resonances are expected to be enhanced. An experimental demonstration of this effect is provided here by time-correlated Raman measurements in different media. The experimental data confirm our theoretical interpretation of a photonic Cooper pairing, without the need for any fitting parameters.
We show how to obtain the first multipole contributions to the electromagnetic radiation emitted by an arbitrary localized source directly from the Jefimenko equation for the magnetic field and the Panofsky-Phillips equation for the electric field. This procedure avoids the unnecessary calculation of the electromagnetic potentials.
Initially, we make a detailed historical survey of van der Waals forces, collecting the main references on the subject. Then, we review a method recently proposed by Eberlein and Zietal to compute the dispersion van der Waals interaction between a neutral but polarizable atom and a perfectly conducting surface of arbitrary shape. This method has the advantage of relating the quantum problem to a corresponding classical one in electrostatics so that all one needs is to compute an appropriate Green function. We show how the image method of electrostatics can be conveniently used together with the Eberlein and Zietal mehtod (when the problem admits an image solution). We then illustrate this method in a couple of simple but important cases, including the atom-sphere system. Particularly, in our last example, we present an original result, namely, the van der Waals force between an atom and a boss hat made of a grounded conducting material.
We calculate the non-retarded dispersion force exerted on an electrically polarizable quantum particle by a perfectly conducting toroid, which is one of the most common objects exhibiting a nontrivial topology. We employ a convenient method developed by Eberlein and Zietal that essentially relates the quantum problem of calculating dispersion forces between a quantum particle and a perfectly conducting surface of arbitrary shape to a corresponding classical problem of electrostatics.Considering the quantum particle in the symmetry axis of the toroid, we use this method to find an exact analytical result for the van der Waals interaction between the quantum particle and the conducting toroid. Surprisingly, we show that for appropriate values of the two radii of the toroid the dispersive force on the quantum particle is repulsive. This is a remarkable result since repulsion in dispersive interactions involving only electric objects (and particles) in vacuum is rarely reported in the literature. Final comments are made about particular limiting cases as for instance the quantum particle-nanoring system. *
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