375 research outputs found
Temperature dependence of the Casimir effect between metallic mirrors
We calculate the Casimir force and free energy for plane metallic mirrors at
non-zero temperature. Numerical evaluations are given with temperature and
conductivity effects treated simultaneously. The results are compared with the
approximation where both effects are treated independently and the corrections
simply multiplied. The deviation between the exact and approximated results
takes the form of a temperature dependent function for which an analytical
expression is given. The knowledge of this function allows simple and accurate
estimations at the % level.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, uses RevTe
Constraints on non-Newtonian gravity from the Casimir force measurements between two crossed cylinders
Constraints on the Yukawa-type corrections to Newtonian gravitational law are
obtained resulting from the measurement of the Casimir force between two
crossed cylinders. The new constraints are stronger than those previously
derived in the interaction range between 1.5 nm and 11 nm. The maximal
strengthening in 300 times is achieved at 4.26 nm. Possible applications of the
obtained results to the elementary particle physics are discussed.Comment: An error in the text and in the figure had been corrected. To appear
in Phys. Rev.
Sub-millimeter Tests of the Gravitational Inverse-square Law
Motivated by a variety of theories that predict new effects, we tested the
gravitational 1/r^2 law at separations between 10.77 mm and 137 microns using
two different 10-fold azimuthally symmetric torsion pendulums and rotating
10-fold symmetric attractors. Our work improves upon other experiments by up to
a factor of about 100. We found no deviation from Newtonian physics at the 95%
confidence level and interpret these results as constraints on extensions of
the Standard Model that predict Yukawa or power-law forces. We set a constraint
on the largest single extra dimension (assuming toroidal compactification and
that one extra dimension is significantly larger than all the others) of R <=
160 microns, and on two equal-sized large extra dimensions of R <= 130 microns.
Yukawa interactions with |alpha| >= 1 are ruled out at 95% confidence for
lambda >= 197 microns. Extra-dimensions scenarios stabilized by radions are
restricted to unification masses M >= 3.0 TeV/c^2, regardless of the number of
large extra dimensions. We also provide new constraints on power-law potentials
V(r)\propto r^{-k} with k between 2 and 5 and on the gamma_5 couplings of
pseudoscalars with m <= 10 meV/c^2.Comment: 34 pages, 38 figure
The Casimir Problem of Spherical Dielectrics: Numerical Evaluation for General Permittivities
The Casimir mutual free energy F for a system of two dielectric concentric
nonmagnetic spherical bodies is calculated, at arbitrary temperatures. The
present paper is a continuation of an earlier investigation [Phys. Rev. E {\bf
63}, 051101 (2001)], in which F was evaluated in full only for the case of
ideal metals (refractive index n=infinity). Here, analogous results are
presented for dielectrics, for some chosen values of n. Our basic calculational
method stems from quantum statistical mechanics. The Debye expansions for the
Riccati-Bessel functions when carried out to a high order are found to be very
useful in practice (thereby overflow/underflow problems are easily avoided),
and also to give accurate results even for the lowest values of l down to l=1.
Another virtue of the Debye expansions is that the limiting case of metals
becomes quite amenable to an analytical treatment in spherical geometry. We
first discuss the zero-frequency TE mode problem from a mathematical viewpoint
and then, as a physical input, invoke the actual dispersion relations. The
result of our analysis, based upon the adoption of the Drude dispersion
relation at low frequencies, is that the zero-frequency TE mode does not
contribute for a real metal. Accordingly, F turns out in this case to be only
one half of the conventional value at high temperatures. The applicability of
the Drude model in this context has however been questioned recently, and we do
not aim at a complete discussion of this issue here. Existing experiments are
low-temperature experiments, and are so far not accurate enough to distinguish
between the different predictions. We also calculate explicitly the
contribution from the zero-frequency mode for a dielectric. For a dielectric,
this zero-frequency problem is absent.Comment: 23 pages, LaTeX, 7 ps figures; expanded discussion, especially in
Sec. 5. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Improved tests of extra-dimensional physics and thermal quantum field theory from new Casimir force measurements
We report new constraints on extra-dimensional models and other physics
beyond the Standard Model based on measurements of the Casimir force between
two dissimilar metals for separations in the range 0.2--1.2 m. The Casimir
force between an Au-coated sphere and a Cu-coated plate of a
microelectromechanical torsional oscillator was measured statically with an
absolute error of 0.3 pN. In addition, the Casimir pressure between two
parallel plates was determined dynamically with an absolute error of mPa. Within the limits of experimental and theoretical errors, the results
are in agreement with a theory that takes into account the finite conductivity
and roughness of the two metals. The level of agreement between experiment and
theory was then used to set limits on the predictions of extra-dimensional
physics and thermal quantum field theory. It is shown that two theoretical
approaches to the thermal Casimir force which predict effects linear in
temperture are ruled out by these experiments. Finally, constraints on Yukawa
corrections to Newton's law of gravity are strengthened by more than an order
of magnitude in the range 56 nm to 330 nm.Comment: Revtex 4, 35 pages, 14 figures in .gif format, accepted for
publication in Phys. Rev.
Constraints on Non-Newtonian Gravity from Recent Casimir Force Measurements
Corrections to Newton's gravitational law inspired by extra dimensional
physics and by the exchange of light and massless elementary particles between
the atoms of two macrobodies are considered. These corrections can be described
by the potentials of Yukawa-type and by the power-type potentials with
different powers. The strongest up to date constraints on the corrections to
Newton's gravitational law are reviewed following from the E\"{o}tvos- and
Cavendish-type experiments and from the measurements of the Casimir and van der
Waals force. We show that the recent measurements of the Casimir force gave the
possibility to strengthen the previously known constraints on the constants of
hypothetical interactions up to several thousand times in a wide interaction
range. Further strengthening is expected in near future that makes Casimir
force measurements a prospective test for the predictions of fundamental
physical theories.Comment: 20 pages, crckbked.cls is used, to be published in: Proceedings of
the 18th Course of the School on Cosmology and Gravitation: The Gravitational
Constant. Generalized Gravitational Theories and Experiments (30 April- 10
May 2003, Erice). Ed. by G. T. Gillies, V. N. Melnikov and V. de Sabbata,
20pp. (Kluwer, in print, 2003
New constraints for non-Newtonian gravity in nanometer range from the improved precision measurement of the Casimir force
We obtain constraints on non-Newtonian gravity following from the improved
precision measurement of the Casimir force by means of atomic force microscope.
The hypothetical force is calculated in experimental configuration (a sphere
above a disk both covered by two metallic layers). The strengthenings of
constraints up to 4 times comparing the previous experiment and up to 560 times
comparing the Casimir force measurements between dielectrics are obtained in
the interaction range 5.9 nmnm. Recent speculations about
the presence of some unexplained attractive force in the considered experiment
are shown to be unjustified.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
Measurement of the Casimir force between parallel metallic surfaces
We report on the measurement of the Casimir force between conducting surfaces
in a parallel configuration. The force is exerted between a silicon cantilever
coated with chromium and a similar rigid surface and is detected looking at the
shifts induced in the cantilever frequency when the latter is approached. The
scaling of the force with the distance between the surfaces was tested in the
0.5 - 3.0 m range, and the related force coefficient was determined at the
15% precision level.Comment: 4 Figure
Casimir-like tunneling-induced electronic forces
We study the quantum forces that act between two nearby conductors due to
electronic tunneling. We derive an expression for these forces by calculating
the flux of momentum arising from the overlap of evanescent electronic fields.
Our result is written in terms of the electronic reflection amplitudes of the
conductors and it has the same structure as Lifshitz's formula for the
electromagnetically mediated Casimir forces. We evaluate the tunneling force
between two semiinfinite conductors and between two thin films separated by an
insulating gap. We discuss some applications of our results.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figs, submitted to Proc. of QFEXT'05, to be published in
J. Phys.
Constraints on new interactions from neutron scattering experiments
Constraints for the constants of hypothetical Yukawa-type corrections to the
Newtonian gravitational potential are obtained from analysis of neutron
scattering experiments. Restrictions are obtained for the interaction range
between 10^{-12} and 10^{-7} cm, where Casimir force experiments and atomic
force microscopy are not sensitive. Experimental limits are obtained also for
non-electromagnetic inverse power law neutron-nucleus potential. Some
possibilities are discussed to strengthen these constraints.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure
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