Casimir-Polder interaction between an atom and a dielectric grating
Quantum Physics
2011-03-28 v2 Quantum Gases
High Energy Physics - Theory
Abstract
We develop the scattering approach to calculate the exact dispersive Casimir-Polder potential between a ground-state atom and a rectangular grating. Our formalism allows, in principle, for arbitrary values of the grating amplitude and period, and of the atom-grating distance. We compute numerically the potential for a Rb atom on top of a Si grating and compare the results with the potential for a flat surface taken at the local atom-surface distance (proximity force approximation). Except for very short separation distances, the potential is nearly sinusoidal along the direction transverse to the grooves.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1010.0170,
title = {Casimir-Polder interaction between an atom and a dielectric grating},
author = {Ana M. Contreras-Reyes and Romain Guérout and Paulo A. Maia Neto and Diego A. R. Dalvit and Astrid Lambrecht and Serge Reynaud},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1010.0170},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
7 pages, 5 figures