Radiation pressure on a moving body: beyond the Doppler effect

Abstract

The dependence of macroscopic radiation pressure on the velocity of the object being pushed is commonly attributed to the Doppler effect. This need not be the case, and here we highlight velocity-dependent radiation pressure terms that have their origins in the mixing of s and p polarizations brought about by the Lorentz transformation between the lab and the material rest frame, rather than in the corresponding transformation of frequency and wavevector. The theory we develop may be relevant to the nano-optomechanics of moving bodies.

Modulated photonic band gaps generated by high-order wave mixing

“…Also related to the moving and static atomic Bragg mirrors, the enhancement mechanisms have been demonstrated in cold atoms pumped by auxiliary near-resonant beams [24], two-color photonic crystal lasing in cold atoms [25], or around a narrow stop-band opening up in the cold confined 87 Rb atoms [26]. In addition, peculiar nonlinearities related to static or moving atomic Bragg mirrors have been reported by many researchers, such as dynamically controlled PBGs via balanced FWM interaction [27], non-Doppler contributions to radiation pressure experienced by a moving dielectric [28], and complete unidirectional reflectionless light propagation [29].…”

Radiation damping optical enhancement in cold atoms

“…Gaining control over radiation damping forces is interesting in its own right. [3][4][5][6] However, this capability can also develop into a new approach to manage the dynamics of hybrid optomechanical atom-membrane interfaces, 7 where the motion of cold atoms is strongly coupled to the vibration of a micro-mechanical membrane. 8 Controlling the coherent motion of cold atoms via radiation damping, particularly if this control can be performed all-optically as we will demonstrate below, would permit substantial engineering of the mechanical oscillator, including the quantumlimited read-out of its position [9][10][11][12] and the efficient exchange of quantum states among light, the oscillator and cold atoms.…”