Casimir Friction in Terms of Moving Harmonic Oscillators: Equivalence Between Two Different Formulations
arXiv:1101.1241 · doi:10.1140/epjd/e2011-20109-1
Abstract
The Casimir friction problem can be dealt with in a simplified way by considering two harmonic oscillators moving with constant relative velocity. Recently we calculated the energy dissipation for such a case, [EPL {\bf 91}, 60003 (2010); Europ. Phys. J. D {\bf 61}, 335 (2011)]. A recent study of Barton [New J. Phys. {\bf 12}, 113044 (2010)] seemingly leads to a different result for the dissipation. If such a discrepancy really were true, it would imply a delicate difficulty for the basic theory of Casimir friction. In the present note we show that the expressions for the dissipation are in fact physically equivalent, at T=0.
7 pages, no figures; discussion expanded, references added. To appear in Eur. Phys. J. D