Quantum field theory at finite temperature for 3D periodic backgrounds

Abstract

The one-loop quantum corrections to the internal energy of some lattices due to the quantum fluctuations of the scalar field of phonons are studied. The band spectrum of the lattice is characterised in terms of the scattering data, allowing to compute the quantum vacuum interaction energy between nodes at zero temperature, as well as the total Helmholtz free energy, the entropy, and the Casimir pressure between nodes at finite non-zero temperature. Some examples of periodic potentials built from the repetition in one of the three spatial dimensions of the same punctual or compact supported potential are addressed: a stack of parallel plates constructed by positioning -functions at the lattice nodes, and an 'upside-down tiled roof' of parallel two-dimensional Pöschl–Teller wells centred at the nodes. They will be called generalised Dirac comb and Pöschl–Teller comb, respectively. Positive one-loop quantum corrections to the entropy appear for both combs at non-zero temperatures. Moreover, the Casimir force between the lattice nodes is always repulsive for both chains when non-trivial temperatures are considered, implying that the primitive cell increases its size due to the quantum interaction of the phonon field.