Quantum dissipative effects for a real scalar field coupled to a time-dependent Dirichlet surface in <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>d</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo><mml:mn>1</mml:mn></mml:math> dimension

We study the dynamical Casimir effect for a real scalar field <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mi>φ</a:mi></a:math> in <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><c:mi>d</c:mi><c:mo>+</c:mo><c:mn>1</c:mn></c:math> dimensions, in the presence of a mirror that imposes Dirichlet boundary conditions and undergoes time-dependent motion or deformation. Using a perturbative approach, we expand in powers of the deviation of the mirror’s surface <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><e:mi mathvariant="normal">Σ</e:mi></e:math> from a hyperplane, up to fourth order. General expressions for the probability of pair creation induced by motion are derived, and we analyze the impact of space-time dimensionality as well as of the nonlinear effects introduced by the fourth-order terms. Published by the American Physical Society 2024