A Eletrodinâmica Estocástica é uma combinação da Eletrodinâmica Clássica e a hipótese adicional de que existem campos eletromagnéticos aleatórios, independentes da temperatura, denominados radiação de ponto-zero ou flutuações do vácuo, responsáveis pelo surgimento de certas propriedades peculiares dos sistemas microscópicos, geralmente descritas pela Mecânica Quântica. Diversos novos resultados da teoria são apresentados nesse trabalho. No capítulo 1, é feita uma breve introdução aos principais conceitos e pressupostos da Eletrodinâmica Estocástica, necessários para melhor compreensão dos capítulos seguintes. No capítulo 2, a atuação dos campos do vácuo no indutor de um circuito elétrico simples é estudada. Conclui-se que deve existir um tipo de ruído na voltagem do circuito, adicional ao ruído de Nyquist-Johnson, que pode ser medido dependendo da magnitude de certos parâmetros do circuito e sob certas condições de temperatura. No capítulo 3, é estudado o comportamento de uma partícula eletrizada em um potencial metaestável, com uma barreira de potencial, sujeita às flutuações da radiação térmica e de ponto-zero. Mostra-se que, mesmo à temperatura muito baixa (T -> 0), as flutuações do vácuo ainda são capazes de promover o escape da partícula através da barreira de potencial. A Mecânica Quântica atribui o fenômeno ao tunelamento da partícula através da barreira. Um conjunto de dados experimentais são analisados e observa-se que a descrição da Eletrodinâmica Estocástica produz um excelente acordo com eles. No capítulo 4, é mostrado que os formalismos de Heisenberg e Schrodinger da Mecânica Quântica deixam de ser equivalentes quando se leva em conta os campos do vácuo nos cálculos. Dirac foi o primeiro a apontar essa não equivalência para casos da Eletrodinâmica Quântica Relativísitica. Um exemplo bem mais simples é apresentado, o oscilador harmônico eletrizado, em interação com o campo eletromagnético do vácuo. / The Stochastic Electrodynamics Theory is a combination of Classical Electrodynamics and the additional hypothesis that temperature-independent stochastic electromagnetic fields do exist. These electromagnetic fields are called zero-point radiation or vacuum fluctuations and are responsible for some peculiar properties of macroscopic systems, usually described by Quantum Mechanics. Some new results of the theory are given in this work. In chapter 1, a brief introduction of the main concepts and hypothesis of the Stochastic Electrodynamics Theory are given. They are necessary for a better understanding of the following chapters. In chapter 2, the influence of vacuum fields at the inductor of a simple electric circuit is studied. One concludes that a certain type of noise in the voltage, which is additional to the NyquistJohnson noise, must exist and can be measured depending on certain circuit parameters and under certain temperatures. In chapter 3, one studies the behavior of an electrified particle inside a metastable potential with a potential barrier, under the influence of the fluctuations of thermal and zero-point radiations. It is shown that, even if the temperature is very low (T -> 0), the vacuum fluctuations are still responsible for the escape of the particle through the potential barrier. Quantum Mechanics relates this phenomenon to the tunneling of the particle through the potential barrier. Experimental data are analyzed and it is shown that the description of Stochastic Electrodynamics gives an excellent agreement with them. In chapter 4, it is shown that the Schrodinger and Heisenberg pictures of Quantum Mechanics are not equivalent when the vacuum fields are taken into account. Dirac was the first to point out this non-equivalence for Relativistic Quantum Electrodynamics. A simpler example of this non-equivalence is shown in the context of Stochastic Electrodynamics: an electrified harmonic oscillator interacting with the electromagnetic vacuum fields.

A Eletrodinâmica Estocástica é uma combinação da Eletrodinâmica Clássica e a hipótese adicional de que existem campos eletromagnéticos aleatórios, independentes da temperatura, denominados radiação de ponto-zero ou flutuações do vácuo, responsáveis pelo surgimento de certas propriedades peculiares dos sistemas microscópicos, geralmente descritas pela Mecânica Quântica. Diversos novos resultados da teoria são apresentados nesse trabalho. No capítulo 1, é feita uma breve introdução aos principais conceitos e pressupostos da Eletrodinâmica Estocástica, necessários para melhor compreensão dos capítulos seguintes. No capítulo 2, a atuação dos campos do vácuo no indutor de um circuito elétrico simples é estudada. Conclui-se que deve existir um tipo de ruído na voltagem do circuito, adicional ao ruído de Nyquist-Johnson, que pode ser medido dependendo da magnitude de certos parâmetros do circuito e sob certas condições de temperatura. No capítulo 3, é estudado o comportamento de uma partícula eletrizada em um potencial metaestável, com uma barreira de potencial, sujeita às flutuações da radiação térmica e de ponto-zero. Mostra-se que, mesmo à temperatura muito baixa (T -> 0), as flutuações do vácuo ainda são capazes de promover o escape da partícula através da barreira de potencial. A Mecânica Quântica atribui o fenômeno ao tunelamento da partícula através da barreira. Um conjunto de dados experimentais são analisados e observa-se que a descrição da Eletrodinâmica Estocástica produz um excelente acordo com eles. No capítulo 4, é mostrado que os formalismos de Heisenberg e Schrodinger da Mecânica Quântica deixam de ser equivalentes quando se leva em conta os campos do vácuo nos cálculos. Dirac foi o primeiro a apontar essa não equivalência para casos da Eletrodinâmica Quântica Relativísitica. Um exemplo bem mais simples é apresentado, o oscilador harmônico eletrizado, em interação com o campo eletromagnético do vácuo. / The Stochastic Electrodynamics Theory is a combination of Classical Electrodynamics and the additional hypothesis that temperature-independent stochastic electromagnetic fields do exist. These electromagnetic fields are called zero-point radiation or vacuum fluctuations and are responsible for some peculiar properties of macroscopic systems, usually described by Quantum Mechanics. Some new results of the theory are given in this work. In chapter 1, a brief introduction of the main concepts and hypothesis of the Stochastic Electrodynamics Theory are given. They are necessary for a better understanding of the following chapters. In chapter 2, the influence of vacuum fields at the inductor of a simple electric circuit is studied. One concludes that a certain type of noise in the voltage, which is additional to the NyquistJohnson noise, must exist and can be measured depending on certain circuit parameters and under certain temperatures. In chapter 3, one studies the behavior of an electrified particle inside a metastable potential with a potential barrier, under the influence of the fluctuations of thermal and zero-point radiations. It is shown that, even if the temperature is very low (T -> 0), the vacuum fluctuations are still responsible for the escape of the particle through the potential barrier. Quantum Mechanics relates this phenomenon to the tunneling of the particle through the potential barrier. Experimental data are analyzed and it is shown that the description of Stochastic Electrodynamics gives an excellent agreement with them. In chapter 4, it is shown that the Schrodinger and Heisenberg pictures of Quantum Mechanics are not equivalent when the vacuum fields are taken into account. Dirac was the first to point out this non-equivalence for Relativistic Quantum Electrodynamics. A simpler example of this non-equivalence is shown in the context of Stochastic Electrodynamics: an electrified harmonic oscillator interacting with the electromagnetic vacuum fields.

The noise in the Langmuir Probe and Plasma Wave Instrument (LP-PWI) on board ESA:s future Jupiter satellite JUICE (Jupiter ICy Moons Explorer) was investigated. Thermal Johnson-Nyquist noise and shot noise, caused by fluctuations in the probe-plasma currents, were combined with the quasi-thermal noise (QTN) due to thermal fluctuations in the electric field in the plasma, using a small signal equivalent circuit model. The contributions and effects of each of the considered noise sources were examined and compared for a number of representative space plasma conditions, including the cold dense plasma of Ganymede's ionosphere and the hot tenuous plasma out in the Jovian magnetosphere. The results showed that in the cold dense plasma of Ganymede's ionosphere, the antenna was long compared to the Debye length and the quasi-thermal noise had a clearly pronounced peak and a steep high-frequency cut-off. For an antenna biased to 1 V with respect to the plasma, the shot noise due to the ambient plasma was the dominant source of noise. For a an antenna at the floating potential the photoelectron shot noise coalesced with the shot and Nyquist noises of the ambient plasma to form almost a single curve. In the hot tenuous plasma out in Jupiter's magnetosphere, the antenna was short compared to the Debye length and the QTN spectrum was much flatter, with little or no peak at the plasma frequency and a very weak high-frequency cut-off. For an antenna biased to 1 V, the shot noise due to photoelectron emission dominated at Callisto's orbital position whereas at Ganymede's and Europa's orbital positions the Nyquist and shot noises of the ambient plasma particles were the dominant noise components. For an antenna at the floating potential, the shot and Nyquist noises of the ambient plasma also dominated the output noise, except at Europa's orbital position, where the quasi-thermal noise was the largest noise component for frequencies at and above the plasma frequency. The numerical calculations were performed using MATLAB. The code was made available in a Git repository at https://github.com/eliasodelstad/irfuproj_JUICE_noise.

The utilization of thermal fluctuations or Johnson/Nyquist noise as a spectroscopic method to determine transport properties in conductors or semiconductors is developed in this paper. The autocorrelation function is obtained from power spectral density measurements thus enabling electronic transport property calculation through the Green-Kubo formalism. This experimental approach is distinct from traditional numerical methods such as molecular dynamics simulations, which have been used to extract the autocorrelation function and directly related physics only. This work reports multi-transport property measurements consisting of the electronic relaxation time, resistivity, mobility, diffusion coefficient, electronic contribution to thermal conductivity and Lorenz number from experimental data. Double validation of the experiment was accomplished through the use of a standard reference material and a standard measurement method, i.e. four-probe collinear resistivity technique. The advantages to this new experimental technique include the elimination of any required thermal or potential gradients, multi-transport property measurements within one experiment, very low error and the ability to apply controlled boundary conditions while gathering data. This research has experimentally assessed the gas pressure and flow effects of helium and argon on 30 nm Au and Cu thin films. The results show a reduction in Au and Cu electronic thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity when subjected to helium and argon pressure and flow. The perturbed electronic transport coefficients, attributed to increased electron scattering at the surface, were so dominant that further data was collected through straight-forward resistance measurements. The resistance data confirmed the thermal noise measurements thus lending considerable evidence to the presence of thin film surface scattering due to elastic and inelastic gas particle scattering effects with the electron ensemble.

The noise in the Langmuir Probe and Plasma Wave Instrument (LP-PWI) on board ESA:s future Jupiter satellite JUICE (Jupiter ICy Moons Explorer) was investigated. Thermal Johnson-Nyquist noise and shot noise, caused by fluctuations in the probe-plasma currents, were combined with the quasi-thermal noise (QTN) due to thermal fluctuations in the electric field in the plasma, using a small signal equivalent circuit model. The contributions and effects of each of the considered noise sources were examined and compared for a number of representative space plasma conditions, including the cold dense plasma of Ganymede's ionosphere and the hot tenuous plasma out in the Jovian magnetosphere. The results showed that in the cold dense plasma of Ganymede's ionosphere, the antenna was long compared to the Debye length and the quasi-thermal noise had a clearly pronounced peak and a steep high-frequency cut-off. For an antenna biased to 1 V with respect to the plasma, the shot noise due to the ambient plasma was the dominant source of noise. For a an antenna at the floating potential the photoelectron shot noise coalesced with the shot and Nyquist noises of the ambient plasma to form almost a single curve. In the hot tenuous plasma out in Jupiter's magnetosphere, the antenna was short compared to the Debye length and the QTN spectrum was much flatter, with little or no peak at the plasma frequency and a very weak high-frequency cut-off. For an antenna biased to 1 V, the shot noise due to photoelectron emission dominated at Callisto's orbital position whereas at Ganymede's and Europa's orbital positions the Nyquist and shot noises of the ambient plasma particles were the dominant noise components. For an antenna at the floating potential, the shot and Nyquist noises of the ambient plasma also dominated the output noise, except at Europa's orbital position, where the quasi-thermal noise was the largest noise component for frequencies at and above the plasma frequency. The numerical calculations were performed using MATLAB. The code was made available in a Git repository at https://github.com/eliasodelstad/irfuproj_JUICE_noise.