Towards detecting traces of non-contact quantum friction in the corrections of the accumulated geometric phase

FARÍAS, M. BELÉN; VILLAR, PAULA I.; LOMBARDO, FERNANDO C.; DECCA, RICARDO S.; SOBA, ALEJANDRO

npj Quantum Information

The University of New South Wales

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2020 vol. 6 p. 1 - 7

The geometric phase can be used as a fruitful venue of investigation to infer features of the quantum systems. Its application canreach new theoretical frontiers and imply innovative and challenging experimental proposals. Herein, we take advantage of thegeometric phase to sense the corrections induced while a neutral particle travels at constant velocity in front of an imperfect sheetin quantum vacuum. As it is already known, two bodies in relative motion at constant velocity experience a quantum contactlessdissipative force, known as quantum friction. This force has eluded experimental detection so far due to its small magnitude andshort range. However, we give details of an innovative experiment designed to track traces of the quantum friction by measuringthe velocity dependence of corrections to the geometric phase. We notice that the environmentally induced corrections can bedecomposed in different contributions: corrections induced by the presence of the dielectric sheet and the motion of the particle inquantum vacuum. As the geometric phase accumulates over time, its correction becomes relevant at a relative short timescale,while the system still preserves purity. The experimentally viable scheme presented would be the first one in tracking traces ofquantum friction through the study of decoherence effects on a NV center in diamond.