Vacuum-Stress-and-Closed-Paths-in-Rectangles，-Pistons，-and-Pistols.pdf

Vacuum Stress and Closed Paths in Rectangles, Pistons, and Pistols a,b,∗ c d b S. A. Fulling , L. Kaplan , K. Kirsten , Z. H. Liu , K. A. Milton e 8 0 a 0 Department of Mathematics, Texas AM University, College Station, TX, 2 77843-3368 USA n b Department of Physics, Texas AM University, College Station, TX, u J 77843-4242 USA 5 c Department of Physics, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 70118 USA 1 d Department of Mathematics, Baylor University, Waco, TX, 76798-7328 USA ] h e H. L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, t - Norman, OK, 73019-2061 USA p e h [ Abstract 1 v 8 Rectangular cavities are solvable models that nevertheless touch on many of the 6 controversial or mysterious aspects of the vacuum energy of quantum fields. This 4 2 paper is a thorough study of the two-dimensional scalar field in a rectangle by the 6. method of images, or closed classical (or optical) paths, which is exact in this case. 0 For each point r and each specularly reflecting path beginning and ending at r, 8 we provide formulas for all components of the stress tensor Tµν (r), for all values of 0 : the curvature coupling constant ξ and all values of an ultraviolet cutoff parameter. v Arbitrary combinations of Dirichlet and Neumann conditions on the four sides can i X be treated. The total energy is also inv