Microscopic theory of photon-induced energy, momentum, and angular momentum transport in the nonequilibrium regime

Abstract

We set up a general microscopic theory for the transfer of energy, momentum, and angular momentum mediated by photons. Using the nonequilibrium Green's function method, we propose a unified Meir-Wingreen formalism for the energy emitted, force experienced, and torque experienced by the objects due to the fluctuating electromagnetic field. Our theory does not require the local thermal equilibrium that is the central assumption of the conventional theory of fluctuational electrodynamics (FE). The obtained formulas are valid for arbitrary objects as well as the environment without the requirement of reciprocity. To show the capability of our microscopic theory, we apply the general formulas to transport problems of graphene edges in both equilibrium and nonequilibrium situations. We show the local equilibrium energy radiation of graphene obeys the well-known $T^4$ law with a converged theoretical emissivity of 2.058$\%$. In the ballistic nonequilibrium situation driven by chemical potential biases, we observe nonzero results for force and torque from the graphene edges, which go beyond the predictive ability of the FE theory. Our method is general and efficient for large systems, which paves the way for studying more complex transport phenomena in the nonequilibrium regime.

arXiv comment10 pages, 3 figures

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Transport in electron-photon systems
• Photon mediated energy, linear and angular momentum transport in fullerene and graphene systems beyond local equilibrium
• Beyond the Drude model: surface and non-local effects in near-field radiative heat transfer and the Casimir puzzle
• Super-Planckian radiative heat transfer between coplanar two-dimensional metals
• Nanoscale Casimir Force Softening Originated from Quantum Surface Responses
• Non-equilibrium Green's function formalism for radiative heat transfer