After successful completion of the course, students are able to understand the contents of the lecture and to use the methods of the lecture to solve problems and develop new strategies in the corresponding field.

The content of this blocked guest lecture will revolve around the topic of quantum vacuum:

1 Quantum Field Theory of Light
1.1 Light in Media
1.1.1 Maxwell’s Equations
1.1.2 Quantum Commutators
1.2 Light Modes
1.2.1 Modes and their Scalar Product
1.2.2 Bose Commutation Relations
1.2.3 Interference
1.2.4 Monochromatic Modes
2 The Casimir Effect
2.1 Summing up Zero-Point Energies
2.2 Lifshitz Theory
2.2.1 Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem 
2.2.2 Examples
2.3 Temperature 
3 Acceleration and Expansion
3.1 Uniform Acceleration 
3.1.1 Rindler Coordinates
3.1.2 Vacuum Correlations
3.1.3 A Tale of Two Observers
3.2 Expanding Universe
3.2.1 De Sitter Spacetime in 1+3 Dimensions
3.2.2 Electromagnetic Fields in de Sitter Spacetime
3.2.3 A Crash Course in Cosmology
3.2.4 Casimir Cosmology

The lecture will take place as a blackboard class with much room for discussion. 

The lecture will be given in blocked form at the following times and locations:

Week 4-8 July: Mo, Tue, We 10:00-12:00, Freihaus lecture hall 5 (second floor green section)
Week 11-15 July: Mo, Tu, We, Thu, Fr 10:00-12:00, Freihaus seminar room DB gelb 03 (third floor, yellow section, behind the elevators)
Week 25-29 July: Mo, Tu, We, Thu, Fr 10:00-12:00, Freihaus lecture hall 6 (second floor green section)

Oral exams are scheduled for the second week of August.

A master-level knowledge of electrodynamics and quantum theory is required.