Vacuum Friction in Rotating Particles

Journal Article · Fri Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.105.113601· OSTI ID:21471008

Manjavacas, A; Garcia de Abajo, F J ^[1]

---

1. Instituto de Optica--CSIC, Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid (Spain)

We study the frictional torque acting on particles rotating in empty space. At zero temperature, vacuum friction transforms mechanical energy into light emission and produces particle heating. However, particle cooling relative to the environment occurs at finite temperatures and low rotation velocities. Radiation emission is boosted and its spectrum significantly departed from a hot-body emission profile as the velocity increases. Stopping times ranging from hours to billions of years are predicted for materials, particle sizes, and temperatures accessible to experiment. Implications for the behavior of cosmic dust are discussed.

• OSTI ID: 21471008
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 11; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.113601; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
COOLING
COSMIC DUST
EMISSION SPECTRA
FRICTION
HEATING
PARTICLE SIZE
PARTICLES
PHOTON EMISSION
ROTATION
TORQUE
VELOCITY
VISIBLE RADIATION
DUSTS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EMISSION
MOTION
RADIATIONS
SIZE
SPECTRA