1304.0977 (T. G Philbin et al.)

Damping the zero-point energy of a harmonic oscillator    [PDF]

T. G Philbin, S. A. R. Horsley

The thermal and zero-point energy of a damped harmonic oscillator are calculated for a range of damping values from zero to infinity. Both the thermal and zero-point energies decrease with damping. The energy stored in the quantum damped oscillator at fixed temperature increases with damping, an effect that may be experimentally observable. As the results follow from canonical quantization, the uncertainty principle is valid for all damping levels.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1304.0977