108 research outputs found
A new "polarized version" of the Casimir Effect is measurable
We argue that the exactly computable, angle dependent, Casimir force between
parallel plates with different directions of conductivity can be measured.Comment: One Figure, 11 page
The electromagnetic field near a dielectric half-space
We compute the expectations of the squares of the electric and magnetic
fields in the vacuum region outside a half-space filled with a uniform
non-dispersive dielectric. This gives predictions for the Casimir-Polder force
on an atom in the `retarded' regime near a dielectric. We also find a positive
energy density due to the electromagnetic field. This would lead, in the case
of two parallel dielectric half-spaces, to a positive, separation-independent
contribution to the energy density, besides the negative, separation-dependent
Casimir energy. Rough estimates suggest that for a very wide range of cases,
perhaps including all realizable ones, the total energy density between the
half-spaces is positive.Comment: Latex2e, IOP macros, 15 pages, 2 eps figure
Casimir force between surfaces close to each other
Casimir interactions (due to the massless scalar field fluctuations) of two
surfaces which are close to each other are studied.
After a brief general presentation, explicit calculations for co-axial
cylinders, co-centric spheres and co-axial cones are performed.Comment: Latex, 20 pages, added references, corrected typos, changed conten
How Multivalency controls Ionic Criticality
To understand how multivalency influences the reduced critical temperatures,
Tce (z), and densities, roce (z), of z : 1 ionic fluids, we study equisized
hard-sphere models with z = 1-3. Following Debye, Hueckel and Bjerrum,
association into ion clusters is treated with, also, ionic solvation and
excluded volume. In good accord with simulations but contradicting
integral-equation and field theories, Tce falls when z increases while roce
rises steeply: that 80-90% of the ions are bound in clusters near T_c serves to
explain these trends. For z \neq 1 interphase Galvani potentials arise and are
evaluated.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Spectral representation of the Casimir Force Between a Sphere and a Substrate
We calculate the Casimir force in the non-retarded limit between a spherical
nanoparticle and a substrate, and we found that high-multipolar contributions
are very important when the sphere is very close to the substrate. We show that
the highly inhomegenous electromagnetic field induced by the presence of the
substrate, can enhance the Casimir force by orders of magnitude, compared with
the classical dipolar approximation.Comment: 5 page + 4 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Derivation of the Blackbody Radiation Spectrum from a Natural Maximum-Entropy Principle Involving Casimir Energies and Zero-Point Radiation
By numerical calculation, the Planck spectrum with zero-point radiation is
shown to satisfy a natural maximum-entropy principle whereas alternative
choices of spectra do not. Specifically, if we consider a set of
conducting-walled boxes, each with a partition placed at a different location
in the box, so that across the collection of boxes the partitions are uniformly
spaced across the volume, then the Planck spectrum correspond to that spectrum
of random radiation (having constant energy kT per normal mode at low
frequencies and zero-point energy (1/2)hw per normal mode at high frequencies)
which gives maximum uniformity across the collection of boxes for the radiation
energy per box. The analysis involves Casimir energies and zero-point radiation
which do not usually appear in thermodynamic analyses. For simplicity, the
analysis is presented for waves in one space dimension.Comment: 11 page
Effects related to spacetime foam in particle physics
It is found that the existence of spacetime foam leads to a situation in
which the number of fundamental quantum bosonic fields is a variable quantity.
The general aspects of an exact theory that allows for a variable number of
fields are discussed, and the simplest observable effects generated by the foam
are estimated. It is shown that in the absence of processes related to
variations in the topology of space, the concept of an effective field can be
reintroduced and standard field theory can be restored. However, in the
complete theory the ground state is characterized by a nonvanishing particle
number density. From the effective-field standpoint, such particles are "dark".
It is assumed that they comprise dark matter of the universe. The properties of
this dark matter are discussed, and so is the possibility of measuring the
quantum fluctuation in the field potentials.Comment: 18 pages, minor corrections added to the published varian
Matter-field theory of the Casimir force
A matter-field theory of the Casimir force is formulated in which the
electromagnetic field and collective modes of dielectric media are treated on
an equal footing. In our theory, the Casimir force is attributed to zero-point
energies of the combined matter-field modes. We analyze why some of the
existing theories favor the interpretation of the Casimir force as originating
from zero-point energies of the electromagnetic field and others from those of
the matter.Comment: 12pages, 1 Postscript figur
The Blackbody Radiation Spectrum Follows from Zero-Point Radiation and the Structure of Relativistic Spacetime in Classical Physics
The analysis of this article is entirely within classical physics. Any
attempt to describe nature within classical physics requires the presence of
Lorentz-invariant classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation so as to
account for the Casimir forces between parallel conducting plates at low
temperatures. Furthermore, conformal symmetry carries solutions of Maxwell's
equations into solutions. In an inertial frame, conformal symmetry leaves
zero-point radiation invariant and does not connect it to non-zero-temperature;
time-dilating conformal transformations carry the Lorentz-invariant zero-point
radiation spectrum into zero-point radiation and carry the thermal radiation
spectrum at non-zero temperature into thermal radiation at a different
non-zero-temperature. However, in a non-inertial frame, a time-dilating
conformal transformation carries classical zero-point radiation into thermal
radiation at a finite non-zero-temperature. By taking the no-acceleration
limit, one can obtain the Planck radiation spectrum for blackbody radiation in
an inertial frame from the thermal radiation spectrum in an accelerating frame.
Here this connection between zero-point radiation and thermal radiation is
illustrated for a scalar radiation field in a Rindler frame undergoing
relativistic uniform proper acceleration through flat spacetime in two
spacetime dimensions. The analysis indicates that the Planck radiation spectrum
for thermal radiation follows from zero-point radiation and the structure of
relativistic spacetime in classical physics.Comment: 21 page
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