Quantum Brownian motion near a point-like reflecting boundary

V. A. De Lorenci, E. S. Moreira Jr., M. M. Silva

Published 2014-04-11, updated 2014-07-07Version 2

The Brownian motion of a test particle interacting with a quantum scalar field in the presence of a perfectly reflecting boundary is studied in (1 + 1)-dimensional flat spacetime. Particularly, the expressions for dispersions in velocity and position of the particle are explicitly derived and their behaviors examined. The results are similar to those corresponding to an electric charge interacting with a quantum electromagnetic field near a reflecting plane boundary, mainly regarding the divergent behavior of the dispersions at the origin (where the boundary is placed), and at the time interval corresponding to a round trip of a light pulse between the particle and the boundary. We close by addressing some effects of allowing the position of the particle to fluctuate.