We discuss new approaches to compute numerically the Casimir interaction
energy for waveguides of arbitrary section, based on the boundary methods
traditionally used to compute eigenvalues of the 2D Helmholtz equation. These
methods are combined with the Cauchy's theorem in order to perform the sum over
modes. As an illustration, we describe a point-matching technique to compute
the vacuum energy for waveguides containing media with different
permittivities. We present explicit numerical evaluations for perfect
conducting surfaces in the case of concentric corrugated cylinders and a
circular cylinder inside an elliptic one.Comment: To be published in the Proceedings of QFEXT09, Norman, OK