For the configuration of a sphere in front of a plane we calculate the first two terms of the asymptotic expansion for small separation of the Casimir force. We consider both Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions.
Using a path integral approach we rederive a recently found representation of the Casimir energy for a sphere and a cylinder in front of a plane and derive the first correction to the proximity force theorem.
This paper is devoted to the presentation of the lateral Casimir force between two sinusoidally corrugated eccentric cylinders. Despite that applying scattering matrix method explains the problem exactly, procedure of applying this method is somehow complicated specially at nonzero temperature. Using the proximity force approximation (PFA) helps to achieve the lateral Casimir force in a truly explicit manner. We assume the cylinders to be slightly eccentric with similar radiuses and separations much smaller than corrugations' wave length for the validity of PFA. For such short distances the ef…
The Casimir energies for plate-sphere system and sphere-sphere system under PFA in the presence of one extra compactified universal dimension are analyzed. We find that the Casimir energy between a plate and a sphere in the case of sphere-based PFA is divergent. The Casimir energy of plate-sphere system in the case of plate-based PFA is finite and keeps negative. The extra-dimension corrections to the Casimir energy will be more manifest if the sphere is larger or farther away from the plate. It is shown that the negative Casimir energy for two spheres is also associated with the sizes of sphe…
We argue that the appropriate variable to study a non trivial geometry dependence of the Casimir force is the lateral component of the Casimir force, which we evaluate between two corrugated metallic plates outside the validity of the Proximity Force Approximation (PFA). The metallic plates are described by the plasma model, with arbitrary values for the plasma wavelength, the plate separation and the corrugation period, the corrugation amplitude remaining the smallest length scale. Our analysis shows that in realistic experimental situations the Proximity Force Approximation overestimates the…
The correct description of the standard Casimir effect for periodic boundary conditions via light front formalism implies in these conditions imposed at fixed Minkowski times [Almeida {\it et al.} Phys. Rev. {\bf D 87}, 065028 (2013); Chabysheva and Hiller, Phys. Rev. {\bf D 88}, 085006 (2013)] instead of fixed light front times. The unphysical nature of this latter condition is manifested in the vacuum part by no regularization yielding a finite Casimir energy density [Lenz and Steinbacher, Phys. Rev. {\bf D 67}, 045010 (2003)]. In the present paper, we extend this discussion and analyze the …
We show that the standard result for the Casimir force between conducting plates at rest in an inertial frame can be computed in light-front quantization. This is not the same as light-front analyses where the plates are at "rest" in an infinite momentum frame. In that case, Lenz and Steinbacher have shown that the result does not agree with the standard result for plates at rest. The two important ingredients in the present analysis are a careful treatment of the boundary conditions, inspired by the work of Almeida et al. on oblique light-front coordinates, and computation of the ordinary ene…
We derive the exact Casimir-Polder potential for a polarizable microparticle inside an ideal metal cylindrical shell using the Green function method. The exact Casimir-Polder potential for a particle outside a shell, obtained recently by using the Hamiltonian approach, is rederived and confirmed. The exact quantum field theoretical result is compared with that obtained using the proximity force approximation and a very good agreement is demonstrated at separations below 0.1$R$, where $R$ is the radius of the cylinder. The developed methods are applicable in the theory of topological defects.
We demonstrate that the approach by Rodrigues et al. (PRL, v.96, 100402, 2006) to the description of the lateral Casimir force between corrugated surfaces is in disagreement with a path-integral theory by Emig et al. (PRA, v.67, 022114, 2003), and the approximations used are not appropriate for comparison to experiment.
We study the finite temperature Casimir interaction between a cylinder and a plate using the exact formula derived from the Matsubara representation and the functional determinant representation. We consider the scalar field with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. The asymptotic expansions of the Casimir energy and the Casimir force when the separation $a$ between the cylinder and the plate is small are derived. As in the zero temperature case, it is found that the leading terms of the Casimir energy and the Casimir force agree with those derived from the proximity force approximation …
In this paper, dedicated to the career of Tom Erber, we consider the Casimir interaction between weakly coupled bodies at nonzero temperature. For the case of semitransparent bodies, that is, ones described by delta-function potentials, we first examine the interaction between an infinite plane and an arbitrary curved surface. In weak coupling, such an interaction energy coincides with the exact form of the proximity force approximation obtained by summing the interaction between opposite surface elements at arbitrary temperature. This result generalizes a theorem proved recently by Decca et a…
Casimir interactions between macroscopic objects are strongly influenced by their geometrical features as shape and orientation as well as by their material properties. The effect of geometry is commonly obtained from the proximity approximation (PA). Here we present a path integral quantization for the electromagnetic field in the presence of deformed metallic surfaces. From the resulting effective action the Casimir force between the surfaces can be calculated without the PA. For corrugated surfaces the force is obtained both perturbatively for small deformations and by a numerical approach …
The lateral Casimir force between two corrugated metallic plates makes possible a study of the nontrivial interplay of geometry and Casimir effect appearing beyond the regime of validity of the Proximity Force Approximation (PFA). Quantitative evaluations can be obtained by using scattering theory in a perturbative expansion valid when the corrugation amplitudes are smaller than the three other length scales: the mean separation distance $L$ of the plates, the corrugation period $λ_\C$ and the plasma wavelength $λ_¶$. Within this perturbative expansion, evaluations are obtained for arbitrary r…
In this paper aiming to obtain the Casimir energy between a sinusoidally corrugated sphere and a plate, we first present a derivation of the sphere-plate Casimir force obtained by applying proximity force approximation (PFA). One may investigate this problem by using the scattering matrix method. Despite that this method achieves the exact result, but difficulties of applying this formalism make the procedure complicated. We use the PFA to achieve the purpose in a truly explicit manner. Considering the sphere to have different kinds of sinusoidally corrugations, we obtain the effect of deforma…
We propose a new approach to the Casimir effect based on classical ray optics. We define and compute the contribution of classical optical paths to the Casimir force between rigid bodies. Our approach improves upon the proximity force approximation. It can be generalized easily to arbitrary geometries, different boundary conditions, to the computation of Casimir energy densities and to many other situations. This is a brief introduction to the method. Joint work with R.L.Jaffe.
The proximity force approximation (PFA) has been widely used as a tool to evaluate the Casimir force between smooth objects at small distances. In spite of being intuitively easy to grasp, it is generally believed to be an uncontrolled approximation. Indeed, its validity has only been tested in particular examples, by confronting its predictions with the next to leading order (NTLO) correction extracted from numerical or analytical solutions obtained without using the PFA. In this article we show that the PFA and its NTLO correction may be derived within a single framework, as the first two te…
We consider the high temperature limit of the Casimir interaction between a Dirichlet sphere and a Dirichlet plate due to the vacuum fluctuations of a scalar field in $(D+1)$-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. The high temperature leading term of the Casimir free interaction energy is known as the classical term since it does not depend on the Planck constant $\hbar$. From the functional representation of the zero temperature Casimir interaction energy, we use Matsubara formalism to derive the classical term. It can be expressed as a weighted sum over logarithms of determinants. Using similarity…
Depending on the point of view, the Casimir force arises from variation in the energy of the quantum vacuum as boundary conditions are altered or as an interaction between atoms in the materials that form these boundary conditions. Standard analyses of such configurations are usually done in terms of ordinary, equal-time (Minkowski) coordinates. However, physics is independent of the coordinate choice, and an analysis based on light-front coordinates, where $x^+\equiv t+z/c$ plays the role of time, is equally valid. After a brief historical introduction, we illustrate and compare equal-time an…
Since massive scalar field plays an important role in theoretical physics, we consider the interaction between a sphere and a plate due to the vacuum fluctuation of a massive scalar field. We consider combinations of Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. There is a simple prescription to obtain the functional formulas for the Casimir interaction energies, known as TGTG formula, for the massive interactions from the massless interactions. From the TGTG formulas, we discuss how to compute the small separation asymptotic expansions of the Casimir interaction energies up to the next-to-leadin…
We derive analytically the asymptotic behavior of the Casimir interaction between a sphere and a plate when the distance between them, $d$, is much smaller than the radius of the sphere, $R$. The leading order and next-to-leading order terms are derived from the exact formula for the Casimir interaction energy. They are found to depend nontrivially on the dielectric functions of the objects. As expected, the leading order term coincides with that derived using the proximity force approximation. The result on the next-to-leading order term complements that found by Bimonte, Emig and Kardar [App…
We consider the small separation asymptotic expansions of the Casimir interaction energy and the Casimir interaction force between two parallel cylinders. The leading order terms and the next-to-leading order terms are computed analytically. Four combinations of boundary conditions are considered, which are Dirichlet-Dirichlet (DD), Neumann-Neumann (NN), Dirichlet-Neumann (DN) and Neumann-Dirichlet (ND). For the case where one cylinder is inside another cylinder, the computations are shown in detail. In this case, we restrict our attention to the situation where the cylinders are strictly ecce…
The violation of the third law of thermodynamics for metals described by the Drude model and for dielectrics with finite \DC conductivity is one of the most interesting problems in the field of the Casimir effect. It manifests itself as a non-vanishing of the entropy for vanishing temperature. We review the relevant calculations for plane surfaces and calculate the corresponding contributions for a ball in front of a plane. In this geometry, these appear in much the same way as for parallel planes. We conclude that the violation of the 3rd law is not related to the infinite size of the planes.
We consider the Casimir interaction between two spheres corresponding to massless Dirac fields with MIT-bag boundary conditions. Using operator approach, we derive the TGTG-formula for the Casimir interaction energy between the two spheres. A byproduct is the explicit formula for the translation matrix that relates the fermionic spherical waves in different coordinate systems. In the large separation limit, it is found that the order of the Casimir interaction energy is $L^{-5}$, where $L$ is the separation between the centers of the spheres. This order is intermediate between that of two Diri…
In this paper, dedicated to Johan Høye on the occasion of his 70th birthday, we examine manifestations of Casimir torque in the weak-coupling approximation, which allows exact calculations so that comparison with the universally applicable, but generally uncontrolled, proximity force approximation may be made. In particular, we examine Casimir energies between planar objects characterized by $δ$-function potentials, and consider the torque that arises when angles between the objects are changed. The results agree very well with the proximity force approximation when the separation distance bet…
We calculate the first correction beyond proximity force approximation for a cylindrical graphene sheet in interaction with a flat graphene sheet or a dielectric half space.
Multiple scattering formulations have been employed for more than 30 years as a method of studying the quantum vacuum or Casimir interactions between distinct bodies. Here we review the method in the simple context of $δ$-function potentials, so-called semitransparent bodies. (In the limit of strong coupling, a semitransparent boundary becomes a Dirichlet one.) After applying the method to rederive the Casimir force between two semitransparent plates and the Casimir self-stress on a semitransparent sphere, we obtain expressions for the Casimir energies between disjoint parallel semitransparent…
We extend our previous work on a derivative expansion for the Casimir energy, to the case of the electromagnetic field coupled to two thin, imperfect mirrors. The latter are described by means of vacuum polarization tensors localized on the mirrors. We apply the results so obtained to compute the first correction to the proximity force approximation to the static Casimir effect.
We present a new method to compute quantum energies in presence of a background field. The method is based on the string-inspired worldline approach to quantum field theory and its numerical realization with Monte-Carlo techniques. Our procedure is applied to the study of the Casimir force between rigid bodies induced by a fluctuating real scalar field. We test our method with the classic parallel-plate configuration and study curvature effects quantitatively for the sphere-plate configuration. The numerical estimates are compared with the ``proximity force approximation''. Sizable curvature e…
We numerically evaluate the Casimir interaction energy for configurations involving two perfectly conducting eccentric cylinders and a cylinder in front of a plane. We consider in detail several special cases. For quasi-concentric cylinders, we analyze the convergence of a perturbative evaluation based on sparse matrices. For concentric cylinders, we obtain analytically the corrections to the proximity force approximation up to second order, and we present an improved numerical procedure to evaluate the interaction energy at very small distances. Finally, we consider the configuration of a cyl…
In this work, we consider a torque caused by the well known quantum mechanical Casimir effect arising from quantized field fluctuations between plates with inhomogeneous, sharply discontinuous, dielectric properties. While the Casimir effect is a relatively well understood phenomenon, systems resulting in lateral or rotational forces are far less developed; to our knowledge, a theoretical study of discontinuous dielectric variants of such systems has not been attempted. We utilize a Proximity Force Approximation in conjunction with the Lifshitz dielectric formula to perform theoretical analyse…
We consider the Casimir interaction between two spheres at zero and finite temperature, for both scalar fields and electromagnetic fields. Of particular interest is the asymptotic expansions of the Casimir free energy when the distance between the spheres is small. The scenario where one sphere is inside the other is discussed in detail. At zero temperature, we compute analytically the leading and the next-to-leading order terms from the functional determinant representation of the Casimir energy. As expected, the leading order term agrees with the proximity force approximation. The results fo…
The Casimir interaction between two perfectly conducting, infinite, concentric cylinders is computed using a semiclassical approximation that takes into account families of classical periodic orbits that reflect off both cylinders. It is then compared with the exact result obtained by the mode-by-mode summation technique. We analyze the validity of the semiclassical approximation and show that it improves the results obtained through the proximity theorem.
We consider the finite temperature Casimir interaction between two Dirichlet spheres in $(D+1)$-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. The Casimir interaction free energy is derived from the zero temperature Casimir interaction energy via the Matsubara formalism. In the high temperature region, the Casimir interaction is dominated by the term with zero Matsubara frequency, and it is known as the classical term since this term is independent of the Planck constant $\hbar$. Explicit expression of the classical term is derived and it is computed exactly using appropriate similarity transforms of matric…
We present an overview of the validity of the Proximity Force Approximation (PFA) in the calculation of Casimir forces between perfect conductors for different geometries, with particular emphasis for the configuration of a cylinder in front of a plane. In all cases we compare the exact numerical results with those of PFA, and with asymptotic expansions that include the next to leading order corrections. We also discuss the similarities and differences between the results for Casimir and electrostatic forces.
In this work, we consider the Casimir effect due to massless fermionic fields in the presence of long cylinders. More precisely, we consider the interaction between a cylinder parallel to a plate, between two parallel cylinders outside each other, and between a cylinder lying parallelly inside another cylinder. We derive the explicit formulas for the Casimir interaction energies and compute the leading and the next-to-leading order terms of the small separation asymptotic expansions. As expected, the leading order terms coincide with the proximity force approximations. We compare the results o…
We study the Casimir energy of a massless scalar field that obeys Dirichlet boundary conditions on a hyperboloid facing a plate. We use the optical approximation including the first six reflections and compare the results with the predictions of the proximity force approximation and the semi-classical method. We also consider finite size effects by contrasting the infinite with a finite plate. We find sizable and qualitative differences between the new optical method and the more traditional approaches.
We propose a new approach to the Casimir effect based on classical ray optics. We define and compute the contribution of classical optical paths to the Casimir force between rigid bodies. We reproduce the standard result for parallel plates and agree over a wide range of parameters with a recent numerical treatment of the sphere and plate with Dirichlet boundary conditions. Our approach improves upon proximity force approximation. It can be generalized easily to other geometries, other boundary conditions, to the computation of Casimir energy densities and to many other situations.
We consider the Casimir interaction between two spheres in $(D+1)$-dimensional Minkowski spacetime due to the vacuum fluctuations of scalar fields. We consider combinations of Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. The TGTG formula of the Casimir interaction energy is derived. The computations of the T matrices of the two spheres are straightforward. To compute the two G matrices, known as translation matrices, which relate the hyper-spherical waves in two spherical coordinate frames differ by a translation, we generalize the operator approach employed in [IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag. \tex…
A multiple scattering formulation is used to calculate the force, arising from fluctuating scalar fields, between distinct bodies described by $δ$-function potentials, so-called semitransparent bodies. (In the limit of strong coupling, a semitransparent boundary becomes a Dirichlet one.) We obtain expressions for the Casimir energies between disjoint parallel semitransparent cylinders and between disjoint semitransparent spheres. In the limit of weak coupling, we derive power series expansions for the energy, which can be exactly summed, so that explicit, very simple, closed-form expressions a…
We give an exact series expansion of the Casimir force between plane and spherical metallic surfaces in the non trivial situation where the sphere radius $R$, the plane-sphere distance $L$ and the plasma wavelength $λ_¶$ have arbitrary relative values. We then present numerical evaluation of this expansion for not too small values of $L/R$. For metallic nanospheres where $R, L$ and $λ_¶$ have comparable values, we interpret our results in terms of a correlation between the effects of geometry beyond the proximity force approximation (PFA) and of finite reflectivity due to material properties. …
In this talk I review various developments in the past year concerning quantum vacuum energy, the Casimir effect. In particular, there has been continuing controversy surrounding the temperature correction to the Lifshitz formula for the Casimir force between real materials, be they metals or semiconductors. Consensus has emerged as to how Casimir energy accelerates in a weak gravitational field; quantum vacuum energy, including the divergent parts which renormalize the masses of the Casimir plates, accelerates indeed according to the equivalence principle. Significant development has been for…
We present improved worldline numerical algorithms for high-precision calculations of Casimir interaction energies induced by scalar-field fluctuations with Dirichlet boundary conditions for various Casimir geometries. Significant reduction of numerical cost is gained by exploiting the symmetries of the worldline ensemble in combination with those of the configurations. This facilitates high-precision calculations on standard PCs or small clusters. We illustrate our strategies using the experimentally most relevant sphere-plate and cylinder-plate configuration. We compute Casimir curvature eff…
In this paper, we derive the formula for the Casimir interaction energy between a sphere and a plate in $(D+1)$-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. It is assumed that the scalar field satisfies the Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions on the sphere and the plate. As in the $D=3$ case, the formula is of TGTG type. One of our main contributions is deriving the translation matrices which express the change of bases between plane waves and spherical waves for general $D$. Using orthogonality of Gegenbauer polynomials, it turns out that the final TGTG formula for the Casimir interaction energy can…
We develop the scattering approach to calculate the exact dispersive Casimir-Polder potential between a ground-state atom and a rectangular grating. Our formalism allows, in principle, for arbitrary values of the grating amplitude and period, and of the atom-grating distance. We compute numerically the potential for a Rb atom on top of a Si grating and compare the results with the potential for a flat surface taken at the local atom-surface distance (proximity force approximation). Except for very short separation distances, the potential is nearly sinusoidal along the direction transverse to …
We review recent developments in the Casimir effect which arises in quantization volumes restricted by material boundaries and in spaces with non-Euclidean topology. The starting point of our discussion is the novel exact solution for the electromagnetic Casimir force in the configuration of a cylinder above a plate. The related work for the scalar Casimir effect in sphere-plate configuration is also considered, and the application region of the proximity force theorem is discussed. Next we consider new experiments on the measurement of the Casimir force between metals and between metal and se…
We calculate the low temperature corrections to the free energy for a sphere in front of a plane. First, the scalar field obeying Dirichet or Neumann boundary conditions is considered. Second, the electromagnetic field is studied, the sphere being perfectly conducting and being a dielectric ball with both, constant permittivity and permittivity of the plasma model.
We consider the finite temperature Casimir effect between two concentric spheres due to the vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field in the $(D+1)$-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. Different combinations of perfectly conducting and infinitely permeable boundary conditions are imposed on the spheres. The asymptotic expansions of the Casimir free energies when the dimensionless parameter $\vep$, the ratio of the distance between the spheres to the radius of the smaller sphere, is small are derived in both the high temperature region and the low temperature region. It is shown that the le…
We develop a method to compute the Casimir effect for arbitrary geometries. The method is based on the string-inspired worldline approach to quantum field theory and its numerical realization with Monte-Carlo techniques. Concentrating on Casimir forces between rigid bodies induced by a fluctuating scalar field, we test our method with the parallel-plate configuration. For the experimentally relevant sphere-plate configuration, we study curvature effects quantitatively and perform a comparison with the ``proximity force approximation'', which is the standard approximation technique. Sizable cur…
The phenomena implied by the existence of quantum vacuum fluctuations, grouped under the title of the Casimir effect, are reviewed, with emphasis on new results discovered in the past four years. The Casimir force between parallel plates is rederived as the strong-coupling limit of $δ$-function potential planes. The role of surface divergences is clarified. A summary of effects relevant to measurements of the Casimir force between real materials is given, starting from a geometrical optics derivation of the Lifshitz formula, and including a rederivation of the Casimir-Polder forces. A great de…
The Casimir force has been computed exactly for only a few simple geometries, such as infinite plates, cylinders, and spheres. We show that a parabolic cylinder, for which analytic solutions to the Helmholtz equation are available, is another case where such a calculation is possible. We compute the interaction energy of a parabolic cylinder and an infinite plate (both perfect mirrors), as a function of their separation and inclination, $H$ and $θ$, and the cylinder's parabolic radius $R$. As $H/R\to 0$, the proximity force approximation becomes exact. The opposite limit of $R/H\to 0$ correspo…
We investigate the Casimir stress on a topological insulator (TI) between two metallic plates. The TI is assumed to be joined to one of the plates and its surface in front of the other is covered by a thin magnetic layer, which turns the TI into a full insulator. We also analyze the limit where one of the plates is sent to infinity yielding the Casimir stress between a conducting plate and a TI. To this end we employ a local approach in terms of the stress-energy tensor of the system, its vacuum expectation value being subsequently evaluated in terms of the appropriate Green's function. Finall…
Due to their collective nature Casimir forces can strongly depend on the geometrical shape of the interacting objects. We study the effect of strong periodic shape deformations of two ideal metal plates on their quantum interaction. A non-perturbative approach which is based on a path integral quantization of the electromagnetic field is presented in detail. Using this approach, we compute the force for the specific case of a flat plate and a plate with a rectangular corrugation. We obtain complementary analytical and numerical results which allow us to identify two different scaling regimes f…
We study the torque arising between two corrugated metallic plates due to the interaction with electromagnetic vacuum. This Casimir torque can be measured with torsion pendulum techniques for separation distances as large as 1$μ$m. It allows one to probe the nontrivial geometry dependence of the Casimir energy in a configuration which can be evaluated theoretically with accuracy. In the optimal experimental configuration, the commonly used proximity force approximation turns out to overestimate the torque by a factor 2 or larger.
We discuss non-equilibrium extensions of the Casimir force (due to electromagnetic fluctuations), where the objects as well as the environment are held at different temperatures. While the formalism we develop is quite general, we focus on a sphere in front of a plate, as well as two spheres, when the radius is small compared to separation and thermal wavelengths. In this limit the forces can be expressed analytically in terms of the lowest order multipoles, and corroborated with results obtained by diluting parallel plates of vanishing thickness. Non-equilibrium forces are generally stronger …
A quite straightforward approximation for the electrostatic interaction between two perfectly conducting surfaces suggests itself when the distance between them is much smaller than the characteristic lengths associated to their shapes. Indeed, in the so called "proximity force approximation" the electrostatic force is evaluated by first dividing each surface into a set of small flat patches, and then adding up the forces due two opposite pairs, the contribution of which are approximated as due to pairs of parallel planes. This approximation has been widely and successfully applied to differen…
We apply the derivative expansion approach to the Casimir effect for a real scalar field in $d$ spatial dimensions, to calculate the next to leading order term in that expansion, namely, the first correction to the proximity force approximation. The field satisfies either Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions on two static mirrors, one of them flat and the other gently curved. We show that, for Dirichlet boundary conditions, the next to leading order term in the Casimir energy is of quadratic order in derivatives, regardless of the number of dimensions. Therefore it is local, and determined…
We study the cylinder-plate and the cylinder-cylinder Casimir interaction in the $(D+1)$-dimensional Minkowski spacetime due to the vacuum fluctuations of massless scalar fields. Different combinations of Dirichlet (D) and Neumann (N) boundary conditions are imposed on the two interacting objects. For the cylinder-cylinder interaction, we consider the case where one cylinder is inside the other, and the case where the two cylinders are outside each other. By computing the transition matrices of the objects and the translation matrices that relate different coordinate systems, the explicit form…