Moonjoo Lee, Junki Kim, Wontaek Seo, Hyun-Gue Hong, Younghoon Song, Ramachandra R. Dasari, Kyungwon An
P. A. M. Dirac first introduced zero-point electromagnetic fields in order to explain the origin of atomic spontaneous emission. Since then, it has long been debated how the zero-point vacuum field is affected by dissipation. Here we report 3D imaging of vacuum fluctuations in a high-Q cavity and rms amplitude measurements of the vacuum field. The 3D imaging was done by the position-dependent emission of single atoms, resulting in dissipation-free rms amplitude of 0.97 +- 0.03 V/cm. The actual rms amplitude of the vacuum field at the antinode was independently determined from the onset of single-atom lasing at 0.86 +- 0.08 V/cm. Within our experimental accuracy and precision, the difference was noticeable, but it is not significant enough to disprove zero-point energy conservation.
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http://arxiv.org/abs/1305.6020
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