dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaSurface-impedance approach solves problems with the thermal Casimir force between real metals
| Authors | B. Geyer, G. L. Klimchitskaya, V. M. Mostepanenko |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0306038 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0306038 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevA.67.062102 |
| Journal | Phys. Rev. A, v.67, N6, p.062102-(1-15), 2003 |
Abstract
The surface impedance approach to the description of the thermal Casimir effect in the case of real metals is elaborated starting from the free energy of oscillators. The Lifshitz formula expressed in terms of the dielectric permittivity depending only on frequency is shown to be inapplicable in the frequency region where a real current may arise leading to Joule heating of the metal. The standard concept of a fluctuating electromagnetic field on such frequencies meets difficulties when used as a model for the zero-point oscillations or thermal photons in the thermal equilibrium inside metals. Instead, the surface impedance permits not to consider the electromagnetic oscillations inside the metal but taking the realistic material properties into account by means of the effective boundary condition. An independent derivation of the Lifshitz-type formulas for the Casimir free energy and force between two metal plates is presented within the impedance approach. It is shown that they are free of the contradictions with thermodynamics which are specific to the usual Lifshitz formula for dielectrics in combination with the Drude model. We demonstrate that in the impedance approach the zero-frequency contribution is uniquely fixed by the form of impedance function and does not need any of the ad hoc prescriptions intensively discussed in the recent literature. As an example, the computations of the Casimir free energy between two gold plates are performed at different separations and temperatures. It is argued that the surface impedance approach lays a reliable framework for the future measurements of the thermal Casimir force.
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"abstract": "The surface impedance approach to the description of the thermal Casimir\neffect in the case of real metals is elaborated starting from the free energy\nof oscillators. The Lifshitz formula expressed in terms of the dielectric\npermittivity depending only on frequency is shown to be inapplicable in the\nfrequency region where a real current may arise leading to Joule heating of the\nmetal. The standard concept of a fluctuating electromagnetic field on such\nfrequencies meets difficulties when used as a model for the zero-point\noscillations or thermal photons in the thermal equilibrium inside metals.\nInstead, the surface impedance permits not to consider the electromagnetic\noscillations inside the metal but taking the realistic material properties into\naccount by means of the effective boundary condition. An independent derivation\nof the Lifshitz-type formulas for the Casimir free energy and force between two\nmetal plates is presented within the impedance approach. It is shown that they\nare free of the contradictions with thermodynamics which are specific to the\nusual Lifshitz formula for dielectrics in combination with the Drude model. We\ndemonstrate that in the impedance approach the zero-frequency contribution is\nuniquely fixed by the form of impedance function and does not need any of the\nad hoc prescriptions intensively discussed in the recent literature. As an\nexample, the computations of the Casimir free energy between two gold plates\nare performed at different separations and temperatures. It is argued that the\nsurface impedance approach lays a reliable framework for the future\nmeasurements of the thermal Casimir force.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0306038",
"authors": [
"B. Geyer",
"G. L. Klimchitskaya",
"V. M. Mostepanenko"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevA.67.062102",
"journal_ref": "Phys. Rev. A, v.67, N6, p.062102-(1-15), 2003",
"title": "Surface-impedance approach solves problems with the thermal Casimir force between real metals",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0306038"
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