Advances in the Casimir Effect
Michael Bordag, Galina Leonidovna Klimchitskaya, Umar Mohideen, and Vladimir Mikhaylovich Mostepanenko
Abstract
The subject of this book is the Casimir effect, i.e., a manifestation of zero-point oscillations of the quantum vacuum in the form of forces acting between closely spaced bodies. It is a purely quantum effect. There is no force acting between neutral bodies in classical electrodynamics. The Casimir effect has become an interdisciplinary subject. It plays an important role in various fields of physics such as condensed matter physics, quantum field theory, atomic and molecular physics, gravitation and cosmology, and mathematical physics. Most recently, the Casimir effect has been applied to nan ... More
The subject of this book is the Casimir effect, i.e., a manifestation of zero-point oscillations of the quantum vacuum in the form of forces acting between closely spaced bodies. It is a purely quantum effect. There is no force acting between neutral bodies in classical electrodynamics. The Casimir effect has become an interdisciplinary subject. It plays an important role in various fields of physics such as condensed matter physics, quantum field theory, atomic and molecular physics, gravitation and cosmology, and mathematical physics. Most recently, the Casimir effect has been applied to nanotechnology and for obtaining constraints on the predictions of unification theories beyond the Standard Model. The book assembles together the field-theoretical foundations of this phenomenon, the application of the general theory to real materials, and a comprehensive description of all recently performed measurements of the Casimir force, including the comparison between experiment and theory. There is increasing interest in forces of vacuum origin. Numerous new results have been obtained during the last few years which are not reflected in the literature, but are very promising for fundamental science and nanotechnology. The book provides a source of information which presents a critical assessment of all of the main results and approaches contained in published journal papers. It also proposes new ideas which are not yet universally accepted but are finding increasing support from experiment.
Keywords:
Casimir force,
vacuum energy,
Lifshitz theory,
precision measurements,
real material properties,
boundary conditions,
thermal correction,
atomic force microscope,
micromachined oscillator
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2009 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199238743 |
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: September 2009 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199238743.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Michael Bordag, author
Center of Theoretical Studies and Institute for Theoretical Physics, Leipzig University, Germany
Galina Leonidovna Klimchitskaya, author
Department of Physics, North-West Technical University, St. Petersburg, Russia and Center of Theoretical Studies and Institute for Theoretical Physics, Leipzig University, Germany
Umar Mohideen, author
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, USA
Vladimir Mikhaylovich Mostepanenko, author
Noncommercial Partnership "Scientific Instruments", Moscow, Russia and Center of Theoretical Studies and Institute for Theoretical Physics, Leipzig University, Germany
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