Electromagnetic Casimir densities in dielectric spherical media

Local expectation values of the electromagnetic energy density, and of the quantity $\text{1}\text{4}\text{G}{}^2\text{=}\text{1}\text{2}$(H · B ? E · D), are calculated both inside and outside a spherical surface dividing two media of permeabilities μ₁ and μ₂. In both media the relationship εμ = 1 is assumed, where ε is the permittivity. The powerful source theory method is used. The results are displayed graphically, although analytical approximate expressions for the field densities are obtained near the surface. The formalism is general enough to describe QED and QCD cavities (to zeroth order in the gauge coupling constant) on the same footing, as limiting cases. Retaining the cutoff parameter at a finite value, it is finally shown how the large interior and exterior cutoff terms compensate each other in the global Casimir energy.     

Ultimately short optical pulses in carbon nanotubes in dispersive nonmagnetic dielectric media

We consider Maxwell’s equations for an electromagnetic field propagating in carbon nanotubes placed in dispersive nonmagnetic dielectric media. An effective equation having the form of an analog of the classical sine-Gordon equation was obtained and analyzed numerically. The dependence of the pulse on the type of carbon nanotubes, initial pulse amplitude, and dispersion constants of the medium was revealed.     

Electromagnetic fields in dispersive chiral media generated by modulated nonuniformly moving sources

A representation for the fields generated by moving sources in chiral media in the form of double time-frequency oscillating integrals is obtained by using quaternionic analysis methods. Some additional assumptions concerning the source allow us to introduce a large dimensionless parameter λ > 0 which characterizes simultaneously the slowness of variations of the amplitude and of the velocity of the source. Application of the two-dimensional stationary phase method to the integral representation of the field leads to asymptotic formulas for the electromagnetic field for large λ > 0, and efficient formulas for the frequency and the time Doppler effects in dispersive chiral media. As an application of the proposed method, we consider the Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation in chiral dispersive media.     

Rigorous analysis of optical forces between two dielectric planar waveguides immersed in dielectric fluid media

This work presents a rigorous analysis of optical forces between planar waveguides immersed in an arbitrary background medium. This approach exploits the Minkowski stress tensor formulation, which is compared with a normalized version of the dispersion relation method, showing excellent results agreement for different dielectric fluid media. Due to slot‐waveguide effect, optical forces from TM modes are more sensitive to changes in the fluid refractive index than the TE counterparts. Furthermore, the repulsive optical force from the antisymmetric TM1 mode becomes stronger for higher refractive indexes, whereas the attractive force of the symmetric TM0 mode becomes weaker. The methodology and results presented in this work provide a rigorous analysis of nano‐optomechanical devices actuated by optical forces in a broad range of materials and applications. Therefore, this study may impact areas of light‐induced interactions presenting novel optofluidic and optomechanical functionalities, thus finding applications in nanoscale transport, sensing and manipulation.

     

Geometrical optics in dispersive media

We present a systematic derivation of Geometrical Optics in dispersive media from Maxwell's equation for the presence of charges and currents, by using the two-timing approximation technique. A propagation equation for the polarisation plane is also derived.     

Forces and momenta caused by electromagnetic waves in magnetoelectric media

We study electromagnetic waves in magnetoelectric media. Analysing the momenta and forces of the waves acting on a finite sample in crossed external electric and magnetic fields, we find that the total force caused by the virtual waves (“vacuum fluctuations”) is zero, in contrast to Feigel's prediction. We show that two irreducible parts of the magnetoelectric matrix cause different effects. An experimental scheme is proposed for the measurement of the magnetoelectric susceptibilities with the help of real electromagnetic waves.     

Tomography of dispersive media

When waves propagate through layered structures, the phase velocity is frequency dependent (dispersive). If one wants to reconstruct the velocity variations in this medium, conventional traveltime-based tomographic methods cannot be used, since each frequency component has a different traveltime. A tomographic method is presented for reconstructing the phase velocity of guided waves in laterally varying media. The dispersive character of guided waves is explicitly accounted for by using a phase-based error criterium instead of "picked" traveltimes. Phase velocity and source waveform can be reconstructed to within a few percent, and the algorithm is shown to be robust in the presence of interference noise. When applied to seismic field data, the reconstructed phase velocity field correlates well with the topography of the area.     

Photon recoil momentum in dispersive media

A systematic shift of the photon recoil momentum due to the index of refraction of a dilute gas of atoms has been observed. The recoil frequency was determined with a two-pulse light grating interferometer using near-resonant laser light. The results show that the recoil momentum of atoms caused by the absorption of a photon is n variant Planck's k, where n is the index of refraction of the gas and k is the vacuum wave vector of the photon. This systematic effect must be accounted for in high-precision atom interferometry with light gratings.     

Wave packets in smoothly inhomogeneous dispersive media

In the quasi-optical aberration-free approximation, a parabolic equation for the envelope of an electromagnetic wave packet propagating along a geometric optical ray in a smoothly inhomogeneous isotropic medium with time dispersion is obtained. The corresponding Green’s function is found whose parameters are determined by integrating a system of ordinary differential equations. The effects of the combined influence of the refraction, diffraction, and dispersion on the evolution of the packet are analyzed; in particular, the effects that cause precession of the envelope waves about the binormal to the propagation trajectory are considered.     

Nonlinear waves in weakly dispersive random media

The propagation of nonlinear waves in random media is an important aspect of nonlinear wave theory and has a long and informative history. This paper describes the basic ideas of the approaches that have been applied. The average-field method, which has been used most extensively in linear problems, is considered. This approach is then shown to be incorrect as far as nonlinear processes are concerned. Finally, a new scheme is proposed average-form the method, which allows consistent evolution equations to be obtained for nonlinear waves in random media.Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 36, No. 8, pp. 760–766, August, 1993.     

Localized optical subcycle pulses in dispersive media

The conditions for creation of broadband localized optical fields (Bessel X pulses and focus wave modes) in dispersive media are analyzed. It is shown that transmission of focus wave modes with subcycle pulse durations through fused silica is possible.     

Pulse self-compression in normally dispersive bulk media

We experimentally demonstrate that high-power femtosecond pulses can be compressed during the nonlinear propagation in the normally dispersive solid bulk medium. The self-compression behavior was detailedly investigated under a variety of experimental conditions, and the temporal and spectral characteristics of resulted pulses were found to be significantly affected by the input pulse intensity, with higher intensity corresponding to shorter compressed pulses. By passing through a piece of BK7 glass, a self-compression from 50 to 20 fs was achieved, with a compression factor of about 2.5. However, the output pulse was observed to be split into two peaks when the input intensity is high enough to generate supercontinuum and conical emission.     

Localized subluminal envelope pulses in dispersive media

The existence and properties of propagative nondispersive and nondiffracting localized envelope waves in dispersive transparent media, with either normal or anomalous group-velocity dispersion, showing subluminal group velocities and strong spatial localization are pointed out. Nonparaxial effects may lead to group-velocity reduction of several orders of magnitude. Numerical simulations are given for wave propagation in sapphire.     

Efficient broad-bandwidth frequency mixing in dispersive media

A method is proposed for relaxing the bandwidth restrictions due to dispersion in frequency mixing. An example for the third-harmonic generation of neodymium glass shows that it is possible to significantly reduce and even eliminate the effects of dispersion for the bandwidths required for femtosecond pulses.     

Slow light pulse propagation in dispersive media

We present a theoretical and numerical analysis of pulse propagation in a semiconductor photonic crystal waveguide with embedded quantum dots in a regime where the pulse is subjected to both waveguide and material dispersion. The group index and the transmission are investigated by finite-difference-time-domain Maxwell–Bloch simulations and compared to analytic results. For long pulses the group index (transmission) for the combined system is significantly enhanced (reduced) relative to slow light based on purely material or waveguide dispersion. Shorter pulses are strongly distorted and depending on parameters broadening or break-up of the pulse may be observed. The transition from linear to nonlinear pulse propagation is quantified in terms of the spectral width of the pulse. To cite this article: T.R. Nielsen et al., C. R. Physique 10 (2009).     

Interaction between molecular complexes in dispersive media

The interaction between molecular complexes in different dispersive media with local and nonlocal screening is investigated theoretically. On the basis of results of numerical analysis on a computer, the dependence of the coupled-system spectrum and the interaction energy of the polarized modes on the characteristic parameters of the dispersive media is considered.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 11, pp. 17–22, November, 1986.     

Electromagnetic fluctuations in anisotropic dielectric crystals

Landau and Lifschitz's theory of electromagnetic (EM) fluctuations in dielectric media is applied to anisotropic dielectric crystals. In the limit of zero damping the spectra of the autocorrelation functions of the EM-field in unaxial crystals are calculated. With the aid of these spectra a generalized Planck's law of radiation is reported.