Research
My physics research to date has largely been in the areas of quantum optics, atomic physics
and quantum electrodynamics - click the Publications button on the menu bar for some of my academic research papers.
Radiation Pressure
The action of an electromagnetic field on a dielectric material medium produces
mechanical effects, which are intrinsically profound and may also have extensive
practical uses in nanotechnology.
Recent papers
(click here and
here)
demonstrate the redundancy of the old Minkowski Abraham controversy
concerning the form of the electromagnetic momentum density in a dielectric.
Investigations are continuing in the area of metamaterials, which may produce considerable application in nanoscience.
Accelerated Atoms
An accelerated 2-level atom becomes excited when accelerated through a Minkowski vacuum.
This is the Unruh effect.
Previous work on accelerated atoms or oscillators seem largely to use either
a Langevin equation or a master equation approach.
I am looking at problems in this area from a canonical view, evaluating the operators
at a general proper-time and introducing a general gauge transformation.
Topological Effects in (1+2) Dimensions
Quantum systems behave differently in a reduced number of space-time dimensions.
I am particularly interested in the possibility of topological effects in light beams that
possess angular momentum.
Click here for a preprint.
Quantitative Finance and Gauge Theory
I would not claim to be a "quant", but I am interested in the formal connection between
physical theory and various financial models; in particular the BGM model of interest
rates and gauge theory.
Even on a superficial level, it is remarkable that a simple
bank account undergoes parallel transport along a time-curve parameterized by the interest rate.
Kirill Ilinsk has written
an interesting book
in this general area, called the "Physics of Finance".
