dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaThermal corrections to the Casimir effect
| Authors | Iver Brevik, Simen A. Ellingsen, Kimball A. Milton |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0605005 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0605005 |
| DOI | 10.1088/1367-2630/8/10/236 |
| Journal | New J.Phys.8:236,2006 |
Abstract
The Casimir effect, reflecting quantum vacuum fluctuations in the electromagnetic field in a region with material boundaries, has been studied both theoretically and experimentally since 1948. The forces between dielectric and metallic surfaces both plane and curved have been measured at the 10 to 1 percent level in a variety of room-temperature experiments, and remarkable agreement with the zero-temperature theory has been achieved. In fitting the data various corrections due to surface roughness, patch potentials, curvature, and temperature have been incorporated. It is the latter that is the subject of the present article. We point out that, in fact, no temperature dependence has yet been detected, and that the experimental situation is still too fluid to permit conclusions about thermal corrections to the Casimir effect. Theoretically, there are subtle issues concerning thermodynamics and electrodynamics which have resulted in disparate predictions concerning the nature of these corrections. However, a general consensus has seemed to emerge that suggests that the temperature correction to the Casimir effect is relatively large, and should be observable in future experiments involving surfaces separated at the few micrometer scale.
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"abstract": "The Casimir effect, reflecting quantum vacuum fluctuations in the\nelectromagnetic field in a region with material boundaries, has been studied\nboth theoretically and experimentally since 1948. The forces between dielectric\nand metallic surfaces both plane and curved have been measured at the 10 to 1\npercent level in a variety of room-temperature experiments, and remarkable\nagreement with the zero-temperature theory has been achieved. In fitting the\ndata various corrections due to surface roughness, patch potentials, curvature,\nand temperature have been incorporated. It is the latter that is the subject of\nthe present article. We point out that, in fact, no temperature dependence has\nyet been detected, and that the experimental situation is still too fluid to\npermit conclusions about thermal corrections to the Casimir effect.\nTheoretically, there are subtle issues concerning thermodynamics and\nelectrodynamics which have resulted in disparate predictions concerning the\nnature of these corrections. However, a general consensus has seemed to emerge\nthat suggests that the temperature correction to the Casimir effect is\nrelatively large, and should be observable in future experiments involving\nsurfaces separated at the few micrometer scale.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0605005",
"authors": [
"Iver Brevik",
"Simen A. Ellingsen",
"Kimball A. Milton"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph",
"hep-th"
],
"doi": "10.1088/1367-2630/8/10/236",
"journal_ref": "New J.Phys.8:236,2006",
"title": "Thermal corrections to the Casimir effect",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0605005"
},
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