On the Theory of Casimir-Polder Forces
Abstract
We consider the energy shift for an atom close to a non-magnetic body with a magnetic moment coupled to a quantized magnetic field. The corresponding repulsive Casimir-Polder force is obtained for a perfect conductor, a metal, a dielectric medium, with dielectric properties modeled by a Drude formula, and a superconductor at zero temperature. The dielectric properties of the superconductor is obtained by making use of the Mattis-Bardeen linear response theory and we present some useful expressions for the low-frequency conductivity. The quantum dynamics with a given initial state is discussed in terms of the well-known Weisskopf-Wigner theory and is compared with corresponding results for a electric dipole coupling. The results obtained are compatible with a conventional master equation approach. In order to illustrate the dependence on geometry and material properties, numerical results are presented for the ground state using a two-level approximation.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0904.4241,
title = {On the Theory of Casimir-Polder Forces},
author = {Bo-Sture Skagerstam and Per Kristian Rekdal and Asle Heide Vaskinn},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0904.4241},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
13 pages, 10 figures. Minor corrections. Published version