Machine-learning-assisted material and geometry characterization from Casimir force measurement
Abstract
A broadband electromagnetic source is important for scientific and technological applications. Quantum vacuum fluctuations, which manifest most prominently in the Casimir effect, provide a fundamentally broadband electromagnetic source. Here we explore a potential consequence of the broadband nature of quantum vacuum fluctuations, by showing that such fluctuations can enable measurement of material permittivity over a broad frequency range. Specifically, we consider the Casimir force in a parallel-plate geometry, with one plate covered by a nanoscopic thin film. Using a machine learning approach, we show that one can infer both the thickness of the film and its permittivity over a broad frequency range, starting from the dependency of the Casimir forces on the spacing between the two plates. Our work highlights the application potential of using vacuum fluctuations as a naturally-existing broadband electromagnetic source for material characterization, and shows that the inverse problem in Casimir force calculation can be solved with machine learning.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2604.15763,
title = {Machine-learning-assisted material and geometry characterization from Casimir force measurement},
author = {Hideo Iizuka and Shanhui Fan},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.15763},
year = {2026}
}