Source theory of the Casimir force

Journal Article · Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1992 · Physical Review A. General Physics; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.45.4241· OSTI ID:7302115

Milonni, P W; Shih, M ^[1]

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1. Theoretical Division, Mail Stop B212, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

We show how the Casimir force between dielectrics can be calculated in terms of source fields, with no explicit reference to zero-point-field energy. Using Feynman's interpretation of the Lamb shift, the commutativity of equal-time electron and field operators, and a relation between a Green function and a vacuum-field-correlation function, we show why the theories of Lifshitz, van Kampen, and Schwinger produce identical results, even though they appear to be based on very different physical premises. We suggest the possibility of modifying van der Waals-Casimir forces with any external field having some degree of spatial coherence.

• OSTI ID: 7302115
• Journal Information: Physical Review A. General Physics; (United States), Vol. 45:7; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
CASIMIR EFFECT
SCHWINGER SOURCE THEORY
FIELD OPERATORS
GREEN FUNCTION
LAMB SHIFT
QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS
VAN DER WAALS FORCES
ELECTRODYNAMICS
FIELD THEORIES
FUNCTIONS
MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
QUANTUM OPERATORS
SPECTRAL SHIFT
662220* - Quantum Electrodynamics- (1992-)