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Casimir forces in a T-operator approach

Journal Article · · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
 [1];  [2]
  1. Department of Physics, Technion, Haifa 32000 (Israel)
  2. Department of Physics, California Institute of Technology, MC 114-36, Pasadena, California 91125 (United States)
We explore the scattering approach to Casimir forces. Our main tool is the description of Casimir energy in terms of transition operators. The approach is valid for scalar fields as well as for electromagnetic fields. We provide several equivalent derivations of the formula presented by Kenneth and Klich [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 160401 (2006)]. We study the convergence properties of the formula and how to utilize it together with scattering data to compute the force. Next, we discuss the form of the formula in special cases such as the simplified form obtained when a single object is placed next to a mirror. We illustrate the approach by describing the force between scatterers in one dimension and three dimensions, where we obtain the interaction energy between two spherical bodies at all distances. We also consider the cases of scalar Casimir effect between spherical bodies with different radii as well as different dielectric functions.
OSTI ID:
21143575
Journal Information:
Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Journal Name: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 78; ISSN 1098-0121
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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