Probing vacuum field fluctuations and source radiation separately in space and time

Abstract

Source radiation (radiation reaction) and vacuum field fluctuations can be seen as two inseparable contributions to processes such as spontaneous emission, the Lamb shift, or the Casimir force. Here, we propose how they can be individually probed and their space-time structure revealed in electro-optic sampling experiments. This allows us to experimentally study causality at the single-photon level and to reveal space- and timelike correlations in the quantum vacuum. A connection to the time-domain fluctuation-dissipation theorem is also made.