Probing quantum vacuum fluctuations over a charged particle near a reflecting wall

Abstract

We investigate the influence of the vacuum fluctuations of a background electric field over a charged test particle in the presence of a perfectly reflecting flat wall. A switching function connecting different stages of the system is implemented in such a way that its functional dependence is determined by the ratio between the measuring time and the switching duration. The dispersions of the velocity components of the particle are found to be smooth functions of time, and have maximum magnitudes for a measuring time corresponding to about one round trip of a light signal between the particle and the wall. Typical divergences reported in the literature and linked with an oversimplification in modeling this system are naturally regularized in our approach. Estimates suggest that this sort of manifestation of quantum vacuum fluctuations over the motion of the particle could be tested in laboratories.