Casimir repulsion between metallic objects in vacuum
Statistical Mechanics
2011-08-26 v2 Quantum Physics
Abstract
We give an example of a geometry in which two metallic objects in vacuum experience a repulsive Casimir force. The geometry consists of an elongated metal particle centered above a metal plate with a hole. We prove that this geometry has a repulsive regime using a symmetry argument and confirm it with numerical calculations for both perfect and realistic metals. The system does not support stable levitation, as the particle is unstable to displacements away from the symmetry axis.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1003.3487,
title = {Casimir repulsion between metallic objects in vacuum},
author = {Michael Levin and Alexander P. McCauley and Alejandro W. Rodriguez and M. T. Homer Reid and Steven G. Johnson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1003.3487},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
4 pages, 4 figures; added references, replaced Fig. 3