Related papers: Casimir Energies in Light of Quantum Field Theory
I examine the effect of trying to impose a Dirichlet boundary condition on a scalar field by coupling it to a static background. The zero point -- or Casimir -- energy of the field diverges in the limit that the background forces the field…
Casimir forces are conventionally computed by analyzing the effects of boundary conditions on a fluctuating quantum field. Although this analysis provides a clean and calculationally tractable idealization, it does not always accurately…
We study the vacuum polarization (Casimir) energy in renormalizable, continuum quantum field theory in the presence of a background field, designed to impose Dirichlet boundary conditions on the fluctuating quantum field. In two and three…
Although Casimir, or quantum vacuum, forces between distinct bodies, or self-stresses of individual bodies, have been calculated by a variety of different methods since 1948, they have always been plagued by divergences. Some of these…
Quantum vacuum energy has been known to have observable consequences since 1948 when Casimir calculated the force of attraction between parallel uncharged plates, a phenomenon confirmed experimentally with ever increasing precision. Casimir…
Quantum vacuum energy has been known to have observable consequences since 1948 when Casimir calculated the force of attraction between parallel uncharged plates, a phenomenon confirmed experimentally with ever increasing precision. Casimir…
In discussions of the cosmological constant, the Casimir effect is often invoked as decisive evidence that the zero point energies of quantum fields are "real''. On the contrary, Casimir effects can be formulated and Casimir forces can be…
The Casimir problem is usually posed as the response of a fluctuating quantum field to externally imposed boundary conditions. In reality, however, no interaction is strong enough to enforce a boundary condition on all frequencies of a…
We obtain new expressions for the Casimir energy between plates that are mimicked by the most general possible boundary conditions allowed by the principles of quantum field theory. This result enables to provide the quantum vacuum energy…
Casimir energy changes are investigated for geometries obtained by small but arbitrary deformations of a given geometry for which the vacuum energy is already known for the massless scalar field. As a specific case, deformation of a…
The Casimir effect is a physical manifestation of zero point energy of quantum vacuum. In a relativistic quantum field theory, Poincar\'e symmetry of the theory seems, at first sight, to imply that non-zero vacuum energy is inconsistent…
From energy considerations there is reason to expect that the work done by Casimir forces during a slow displacement of the parallel plates reflects the free energy of the surface tension of the adjacent surfaces. We show this explicitly,…
We provide a review of both new experimental and theoretical developments in the Casimir effect. The Casimir effect results from the alteration by the boundaries of the zero-point electromagnetic energy. Unique to the Casimir force is its…
From the beginning of the subject, calculations of quantum vacuum energies or Casimir energies have been plagued with two types of divergences: The total energy, which may be thought of as some sort of regularization of the zero-point…
The phenomena implied by the existence of quantum vacuum fluctuations, grouped under the title of the Casimir effect, are reviewed, with emphasis on new results discovered in the past four years. The Casimir force between parallel plates is…
We compute the Casimir energy which arises in a bi-dimensional surface due to the quantum fluctuations of a scalar field. We assume that the boundaries are irregular and the field obeys Dirichlet condition. We re-parametrize the problem to…
The Casimir Energy of a spherical surface characterized by its surface impedance is calculated. The material properties of the boundary are described by means of the Drude model, so that a generalization of previous results is obtained. The…
The Casimir energy corresponding to a massive scalar field with Dirichlet boundary conditions on a spherical bag is obtained. The field is considered, separately, inside and outside the bag. The renormalization procedure that is necessary…
The Casimir force provides a striking example of the effects of quantum fluctuations in a mesoscopic system. Because it arises from the objects' electromagnetic response, the necessary calculations in quantum field theory are most naturally…
We use a functional approach to the Casimir effect in order to evaluate the exact vacuum energy for a real scalar field in $d+1$ dimensions, in the presence of backgrounds that, in a particular limit, impose Dirichlet boundary conditions on…