We present a general analytical approach to investigate relativistic corrections in the dynamical Casimir effect (DCE). Particularly, we discuss the behavior of the additional frequency bands that appear in the spectral distribution of the created particles when the first relativistic corrections are taken into account. We do that in the context of circuit QED, by analyzing the setup used in the first measurement of the DCE, where a system with a time-dependent boundary condition simulates the mechanical motion of a single mirror in 1+1 dimensions. Our method is applicable to a large class of systems with oscillatory time-dependent parameters and can be generalized to higher dimensions and other fields.

• Received 5 July 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.88.032515