| The purpose of this thesis is to understand the quantum vacuum in curved space-time by comparing the phenomenon of Hawking radiation with the Casimir effect. I begin with an exposition on the semiclassical approximation, as yet our best framework for understanding the curved vacuum, with additional preliminaries regarding the nature of particles and vacua in general. I discuss the Schwarzschild black hole, and derive the Hawking particle flux. Hawking radiation is viewed as a kinematical effect, which I compare to the case of mirrors moving in flat space-time. I move on to the Casimir effect: I discuss the classic case for parallel plates, and then present subtleties required for adapting it to the black hole scenario. In the final section, I compare the two phenomena and give a physical picture of the radiating black hole that clearly connects the two. |
