Related papers: Phonon Scharnhorst effect: Acoustic analogue of the vacuum-fluctuation-boosted speed of light

Phonon Scharnhorst effect: Acoustic analogue of the vacuum-fluctuation-boosted speed of light

URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2609.14155v1
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2026 21:09:03 GMT
Title: Phonon Scharnhorst effect: Acoustic analogue of the vacuum-fluctuation-boosted speed of light
Abstract summary: We propose a condensed matter analogue, replacing the photons in the electromagnetic vacuum by phonon excitations of a Bose-Einstein condensate.<n>This is 28 orders of magnitude larger than the photonic effect, basically because phonons have a self-interaction while photons only interact via massive electrons.
Score: 0.0
License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
Abstract: The Scharnhorst effect in quantum electrodynamics predicts a superluminal velocity shift $δc>0$ at low photon frequencies due to vacuum fluctuations between two mirrors. Although theoretically robust (no causality violation), the effect is extraordinarily small ($δc/c\approx 10^{-32}$ for mirrors $1\,μ{\rm m}$ apart) and outside current experimental reach. Here we propose a condensed matter analogue, replacing the photons in the electromagnetic vacuum by phonon excitations of a Bose-Einstein condensate. In an idealized geometry, the two-dimensional surface of a cylinder (circumference $L$) at zero temperature, the axial speed of sound is increased due to zero-point fluctuations of the condensate by $δc/c\simeq 5\times 10^{-3}\,\tilde{g}$ at $L\simeq 2\,ξ$, to first order in the dimensionless interaction constant $\tilde{g}\simeq 10^{-1}$ of the Bose gas of healing length $ξ\simeq 1\,μ{\rm m}$. This is 28 orders of magnitude larger than the photonic effect, basically because phonons have a self-interaction while photons only interact via massive electrons. We discuss the prospects for observation of the acoustic Scharnhorst effect, the main restriction being the low-temperature requirement.

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