Scattering Approach to Casimir Force


Method

red ball Casimir force between multiple objects of different shapes and material properties can be related to classical scattering amplitudes of electromagnetic fields from individual bodies.

yellow ball "Scattering theory approach to electrodynamic Casimir forces,"

S.J. Rahi, T. Emig, N. Graham, R.L. Jaffe, and M. Kardar, Phys. Rev. D 80, 085021 (2009)


Results

red ball  Shapes amenable to exact treatment of electromagnetic scattering:

yellow ball Plane, sphere, cylinder (circular, parabolic, elliptic), wedge, cone, ...

red ball  Interior/Exterior: Can deal with objects inside one another

red ball  Babinet Principle: Relating scattering and force from screens and apertures.

red ball  Finite size/Edge effects: Role of boundaries and their interactions.

red ball  Earnshaw's Theorem: Constraints on stable equilibrium.  

red ball  Off Equilibrium: Heat transfer and radiation.