TY  - JOUR
A1  - Pieplow, Gregor
A1  - Henkel, Carsten
T1  - Cherenkov friction on a neutral particle moving parallel to a dielectric
JF  - Journal of physics : Condensed matter
N2  - We describe a simple mechanism of quantum friction for a particle moving parallel to a dielectric, based on a fully relativistic framework and the assumption of local equilibrium. The Cherenkov effect explains how the bare ground state becomes globally unstable and how fluctuations of the electromagnetic field and the particle's dipole are converted into pairs of excitations. Modeling the particle as a silver nano-sphere, we investigate the spectrum of the force and its velocity dependence. We find that the damping of the plasmon resonance in the silver particle has a relatively strong impact near the Cherenkov threshold velocity. We also present an expansion of the friction force near the threshold velocity for both damped and undamped particles.
KW  - quantum friction
KW  - quantum electrodynamics
KW  - Cherenkov radiation
KW  - transition radiation
KW  - fluctuation forces
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/27/21/214001
SN  - 0953-8984
SN  - 1361-648X
VL  - 27
IS  - 21
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  -