Casimir forces in the time domain: Theory

Journal Article · Wed Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.80.012115· OSTI ID:21313209

Rodriguez, Alejandro W; McCauley, Alexander P; Joannopoulos, John D ^[1]; Johnson, Steven G ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)
2. Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)

We present a method to compute Casimir forces in arbitrary geometries and for arbitrary materials based on the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) scheme. The method involves the time evolution of electric and magnetic fields in response to a set of current sources, in a modified medium with frequency-independent conductivity. The advantage of this approach is that it allows one to exploit existing FDTD software, without modification, to compute Casimir forces. In this paper, we focus on the derivation, implementation choices, and essential properties of the time-domain algorithm, both considered analytically and illustrated in the simplest parallel-plate geometry.

• OSTI ID: 21313209
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 80, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.80.012115; (c) 2009 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ALGORITHMS
CASIMIR EFFECT
COMPUTER CODES
ELECTRIC FIELDS
EVOLUTION
GEOMETRY
MAGNETIC FIELDS
QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS