Quantum Vacuum Sagnac Effect

Abstract

We report on the quantum electrodynamical analogue of a Sagnac phase induced by the fast rotation of a neutral nanoparticle onto atomic waves propagating in its vicinity. The quantum vacuum Sagnac phase is a geometric Berry phase proportional to the angular velocity of rotation. The persistence of a noninertial effect into the inertial frame is also analogous to the Aharonov-Bohm effect. Here, a rotation confined to a restricted domain of space gives rise to an atomic phase even though the interferometer is at rest with respect to an inertial frame. By taking advantage of a plasmon resonance, we show that the magnitude of the induced phase can be close to the sensitivity limit of state of the art interferometers. The quantum vacuum Sagnac atomic phase is a geometric footprint of a dynamical Casimir-like effect

Typos corrected

References in corpus (9)

• Atom Interferometers
• 6-axis inertial sensor using cold-atom interferometry
• Geometric phases in open systems: an exact model to study how they are corrected by decoherence
• Squeezing on momentum states for atom interferometry
• Towards detecting traces of non-contact quantum friction in the corrections of the accumulated geometric phase
• Detectable Signature of Quantum Friction on a Sliding Particle in Vacuum
• Non-local double-path Casimir phase in atom interferometers
• Shaking photons from the vacuum: acceleration radiation from vibrating atoms
• Focusing Atom Laser Beams