Explanation of the Observed Energy Exchange through the vacuum in Optomechanics
Abstract
In cavity optomechanics, the standard large-detuning regime is commonly described by retaining only the radiation-pressure interaction, while higher-order mirror--field interactions are assumed to be negligible. This approximation, however, fails to provide a microscopic explanation for the vacuum-mediated heat transfer observed between the mechanical membranes in the experiment of Fong, et.al.,[Nature \textbf{576}, 243 (2019)], whose physical origin has remained under active debate. Here, using a fully quantum model, we show that the neglected higher-order optomechanical interactions naturally generate phonon-phonon coupling and quantitatively account for the observed energy exchange within the standard optomechanical framework. Building on this microscopic description, we further propose a protocol in which phonon-phonon interaction drives a cyclic process enabling net work extraction. Our results establish the fundamental role of higher-order optomechanical interactions and provide a microscopic framework for describing next-generation optomechanical experiments beyond the linear approximation.
Related
- First measurement of the antihydrogen production cross section through the charge-exchange reaction of low-energy antiprotons with orthopositronium
- Strong Nanomechanical Duffing Nonlinearity and Interactions Induced through Cavity Optomechanics.
- Recoil-heating modulation in levitated optomechanics through optical wavefront shaping
- Time‐Modulated Optomechanics Reveal Energy Flow and Inelastic Interactions Between Acoustic Phonons in Nanomembranes
- A Possible Hadronic Explanation for the Ultra-high-energy γ-Ray Emission from 1LHAASO J0056+6346u
BibTeX
@misc{macri2026explanation,
title = {{Explanation of the Observed Energy Exchange through the vacuum in Optomechanics}},
author = {Vincenzo Macrì and Franco Nori and Alessandro Ferreri},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.24900},
eprint = {2609.24900},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.24900},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Explanation of the Observed Energy Exchange through the vacuum in Optomechanics
AU - Vincenzo Macrì
AU - Franco Nori
AU - Alessandro Ferreri
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/21
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.24900
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.24900
AB - In cavity optomechanics, the standard large-detuning regime is commonly described by retaining only the radiation-pressure interaction, while higher-order mirror--field interactions are assumed to be negligible. This approximation, however, fails to provide a microscopic explanation for the vacuum-mediated heat transfer observed between the mechanical membranes in the experiment of Fong, et.al.,[Nature \textbf{576}, 243 (2019)], whose physical origin has remained under active debate. Here, using a fully quantum model, we show that the neglected higher-order optomechanical interactions naturally generate phonon-phonon coupling and quantitatively account for the observed energy exchange within the standard optomechanical framework. Building on this microscopic description, we further propose a protocol in which phonon-phonon interaction drives a cyclic process enabling net work extraction. Our results establish the fundamental role of higher-order optomechanical interactions and provide a microscopic framework for describing next-generation optomechanical experiments beyond the linear approximation.
ER -