Observability of the bulk Casimir effect: Can the dynamical Casimir effect be relevant to sonoluminescence?

Kimball A. Milton and Y. Jack Ng
Phys. Rev. E 57, 5504 – Published 1 May 1998
PDFExport Citation

Abstract

The experimental observation of intense light emission by acoustically driven, periodically collapsing bubbles of air in water (sonoluminescence) has yet to receive an adequate explanation. One of the most intriguing ideas is that the conversion of acoustic energy into photons occurs quantum mechanically, through a dynamical version of the Casimir effect. We have argued elsewhere that in the adiabatic approximation, which should be reliable here, Casimir or zero-point energies cannot possibly be large enough to be relevant. (About 10 MeV of energy is released per collapse.) However, there are sufficient subtleties involved that others have come to opposite conclusions. In particular, it has been suggested that bulk energy, that is, simply the naive sum of 12ħω, which is proportional to the volume, could be relevant. We show that this cannot be the case, based on general principles as well as specific calculations. In the process we further illuminate some of the divergence difficulties that plague Casimir calculations, with an example relevant to the bag model of hadrons.

  • Received 14 July 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.57.5504

©1998 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Kimball A. Milton*

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019

Y. Jack Ng

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Institute of Field Physics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599

  • *Electronic address: milton@mail.nhn.ou.edu
  • Electronic address: ng@physics.unc.edu

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 57, Iss. 5 — May 1998

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review E

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×