Balanced homodyne detectors and Casimir energy densities

Abstract

We recall and generalize the analysis of the output of the so-called balanced homodyne detectors. The most important feature of these detectors is their ability to quantify the vacuum fluctuations of the electric field, that is expectation values of products of (quantum-) electric-field operators. More precisely, the output of BHDs provides information on the one- and two-point functions of arbitrary states of quantum fields. We generalize the analysis of the response of BHDs to the case of quantum fields under influence of static external conditions such as cavities or polarizable media. By recalling the expressions for two-point functions of quantum fields in Casimir geometries we show, that a rich, position- and frequency-dependent pattern of BHD responses is predicted for ground states. This points to a potentially new characterization of quantum fields in Casimir setups which would not only complement the current global methods (Casimir forces), but also improve understanding of sub-vacuum energy densities present in some regions in these geometries.