Measuring Casimir Force Across a Superconducting Transition

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2504.10579v1
• Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2025 18:00:01 GMT
• Title: Measuring Casimir Force Across a Superconducting Transition
• Authors: Minxing Xu, Robbie J. G. Elbertse, Ata Keşkekler, Giuseppe Bimonte, Jinwon Lee, Sander Otte, Richard A. Norte,
• Abstract summary: How Casimir forces behave across a superconducting transition remains unresolved.<n>This question carries implications for electron physics, quantum gravity, and high-temperature superconductivity.<n>Here we demonstrate an on-chip superconducting platform that overcomes these challenges.
• Score: 2.456131895610858
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: The Casimir effect and superconductivity are foundational quantum phenomena whose interaction remains an open question in physics. How Casimir forces behave across a superconducting transition remains unresolved, owing to the experimental difficulty of achieving alignment, cryogenic environments, and isolating small changes from competing effects. This question carries implications for electron physics, quantum gravity, and high-temperature superconductivity. Here we demonstrate an on-chip superconducting platform that overcomes these challenges, achieving one of the most parallel Casimir configurations to date. Our microchip-based cavities achieve unprecedented area-to-separation ratio between plates, exceeding previous Casimir experiments by orders of magnitude and generating the strongest Casimir forces yet between compliant surfaces. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is used for the first time to directly detect the resonant motion of a suspended membrane, with subatomic precision in both lateral positioning and displacement. Such precision measurements across a superconducting transition allow for the suppression of all van der Waals, electrostatic, and thermal effects. Preliminary measurements suggest superconductivity-dependent shifts in the Casimir force, motivating further investigation and comparison with theories. By uniting extreme parallelism, nanomechanics, and STM readout, our platform opens a new experimental frontier at the intersection of Casimir physics and superconductivity.

Related papers

• Dynamical Casimir effect in superconducting cavities: from photon generation to universal quantum gates [49.1574468325115]
  Chapter explores various aspects of the Dynamical Casimir Effect (DCE) and its implications in the context of circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED)
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-04-15T16:28:00Z)
• Proposal to measure the Casimir Effect Across the Superconducting Transition [0.0]
  We exploit the first-order superconducting transition induced in a thick film by a parallel magnetic field.<n>By periodically modulating the magnetic field, we induce a corresponding modulation of the Casimir force.<n>A successful measurement of this effect would provide crucial insights into the fundamental nature of the Casimir force.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-02-07T14:15:08Z)
• Measurement of the Casimir force between superconductors [0.0]
  We observe the Casimir force between superconducting objects for the first time, through the nonlinear dynamics it imparts to a superconducting drum resonator in a microwave optomechanical system.<n>With a modified design, this device type should operate in the single-phonon nonlinear regime.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-01-23T15:36:52Z)
• Thermalization and Criticality on an Analog-Digital Quantum Simulator [133.58336306417294]
  We present a quantum simulator comprising 69 superconducting qubits which supports both universal quantum gates and high-fidelity analog evolution. We observe signatures of the classical Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition, as well as strong deviations from Kibble-Zurek scaling predictions. We digitally prepare the system in pairwise-entangled dimer states and image the transport of energy and vorticity during thermalization.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-05-27T17:40:39Z)
• Nanoscale Casimir Force Softening Originated from Quantum Surface Responses [2.9119226964782414]
  We show that surface electrons can enhance or suppress nanoscale Casimir force depending on materials and crystal facets.<n>Our findings highlight the interaction between surface electrons and vacuum fields and provide a recipe for theoretical and experimental investigation of nanoscale fluctuation-type problems.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-03-18T15:00:53Z)
• Casimir repulsion with biased semiconductors [1.8273673942018027]
  We explore systems involving moderately biased semiconductors that exhibit strong repulsive Casimir forces. Modes emitted from the semiconductors exert a repulsive force on a near surface that overcomes the attractive equilibrium Casimir force contribution at submicron distances. Our work opens up new possibilities of controlling forces at the nano- and micrometer scale with applications in sensing and actuation in nanotechnology.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-03-14T00:04:13Z)
• Casimir and Casimir-Polder Interactions for Magneto-dielectric Materials: Surface Scattering Expansion [0.0]
  We develop a general multiple scattering expansion (MSE) for computing Casimir forces between magneto-dielectric bodies and Casimir-Polder forces between polarizable particles and magneto-dielectric bodies.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-09-05T10:46:23Z)
• Negative electrohydrostatic pressure between superconducting bodies [39.58317527488534]
  We predict a negative (attractive) pressure between planar superconducting bodies. The resulting surface energies are in better agreement than those predicted by the Hartree-Fock theory. The model circumvents the bulk limitations of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer and Ginzburg-Landau theories.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-07-10T21:08:22Z)
• First design of a superconducting qubit for the QUB-IT experiment [50.591267188664666]
  The goal of the QUB-IT project is to realize an itinerant single-photon counter exploiting Quantum Non Demolition (QND) measurements and entangled qubits. We present the design and simulation of the first superconducting device consisting of a transmon qubit coupled to a resonator using Qiskit-Metal.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-07-18T07:05:10Z)
• Demonstrating Quantum Microscopic Reversibility Using Coherent States of Light [58.8645797643406]
  We propose and experimentally test a quantum generalization of the microscopic reversibility when a quantum system interacts with a heat bath. We verify that the quantum modification for the principle of microscopic reversibility is critical in the low-temperature limit.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-05-26T00:25:29Z)
• The quantum Otto cycle in a superconducting cavity in the non-adiabatic regime [62.997667081978825]
  We analyze the efficiency of the quantum Otto cycle applied to a superconducting cavity. It is shown that, in a non-adiabatic regime, the efficiency of the quantum cycle is affected by the dynamical Casimir effect.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-11-30T11:47:33Z)
• Circuit Quantum Electrodynamics [62.997667081978825]
  Quantum mechanical effects at the macroscopic level were first explored in Josephson junction-based superconducting circuits in the 1980s. In the last twenty years, the emergence of quantum information science has intensified research toward using these circuits as qubits in quantum information processors. The field of circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED) has now become an independent and thriving field of research in its own right.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-05-26T12:47:38Z)

This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.

This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.