Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2011. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-38). / The Casimir energy is the change in energy of a configuration of objects due to second quantization of the electromagnetic field. The Casimir energy of a dielectric object inside a perfectly conducting sphere was recently analyzed [1]. Building on this result, I calculate the changes in energy levels of a quantum top inside a cavity after promoting the Casimir energy to a quantum Hamiltonian. I apply the result to a diatomic molecule and find the changes in the spectroscopy induced by the Casimir effect. This can potentially provide an additional experimental probe into the Casimir effect. / by Eric Andrew Vitus Fitzgerald. / S.M.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/68881 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Fitzgerald, Eric Andrew Vitus |
| Contributors | Robert L. Jaffe., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics. |
| Publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | M.I.T. Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 38 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 |
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