Year: 1978
Type: article
Abstract: Expressions are derived for the free energy of a massless scalar gas confined to a spatial cavity in a static space-time at a finite temperature. A high temperature expansion is presented in terms of the Minakshisundaram coefficients. This gives curvature and boundary corrections to the Planckian form. The regularisation used is the zeta function one, and yields a finite total internal energy. However, it is known that the local energy density diverges in a non-integrable way as the boundary is approached. A 'surface energy' is suggested to reconcile these two facts. Explicit expressions for the total energy inside two infinite rectangular waveguides are obtained.
Authors: J S Dowker, G Kennedy
Institution: University of Manchester
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2049484903