×

Ontological aspects of the Casimir effect. (English) Zbl 1301.81260

Summary: The role of the vacuum, in the Casimir Effect, is a matter of some dispute: the Casimir force has been variously described as a phenomenon resulting “from the alteration, by the boundaries, of the zero-point electromagnetic energy” [M. Bordag et al., Phys. Rep. 353, No.1–3, 1–205 (2001; Zbl 0972.81212)], or a “van der Waals force between the metal plates” that can be ”computed without reference to zero point energies” [R.L. Jaffe, Physical Review D 72, No. 2, Article No. 021301(R), 5 p. (2005; doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.72.021301)]. Neither of these descriptions is grounded in a consistently quantum mechanical treatment of matter interacting with the electromagnetic field. However, the Casimir Effect has been canonically described within the framework of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics [T.G. Philbin, New Journal of Physics 12, No. 12, Article No. 123008 21 p. (2010; doi:10.1088/1367-2630/12/12/123008)]. On this general account, the force is seen to arise due to the coupling of fluctuating currents to the zero-point radiation, and it is in this restricted sense that the phenomenon requires the existence of zero-point fields. The conflicting descriptions of the Casimir Effect, on the other hand, appear to arise from ontologies in which an unwarranted metaphysical priority is assigned either to the matter or the fields, and this may have a direct bearing on the problem of the cosmological constant.

MSC:

81T55 Casimir effect in quantum field theory
81V10 Electromagnetic interaction; quantum electrodynamics
83C05 Einstein’s equations (general structure, canonical formalism, Cauchy problems)
00A79 Physics

Citations:

Zbl 0972.81212
PDFBibTeX XMLCite
Full Text: DOI arXiv

References:

[1] Barton, G., New Journal of Physics, 12, 113045, 113045 (2010)
[2] Boi, L., The quantum vacuum (2011), The Johns Hopkins University Press: The Johns Hopkins University Press Meryland
[3] Bordag, M., Physical Review D, 85, 025005, 025005 (2012)
[4] Bordag, M.; Mohideen, U.; Mostepanenko, V. M., Physics Reports, 353, 1-205 (2001)
[7] Carroll, S. M., Living Reviews in Relativity, 4, 1 (2001)
[8] Casimir, H. B.G., Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, 51, 793 (1948)
[9] Dzyaloshinskii, I. E.; Lifshitz, E. M.; Pitaevskii, L. P., Advances in Physics, 10, 165 (1961)
[10] Horsley, S. A.R., Physical Review A, 84, 063822 (2011)
[11] Horsley, S. A.R., Physical Review A, 86, 023830 (2012)
[12] Horsley, S. A.R.; Philbin, T. G., New Journal of Physics, 16, 1, 013030 (2014) · Zbl 1451.81280
[13] Horsley, S. A.R.; Simpson, W. M.R., Physical Review A, 88, 013833, 013833 (2013)
[14] Jaffe, R. L., Physical Review D, 72, 021301(R) (2005), 021301(R)
[18] Leonhardt, U., Essential quantum optics: from quantum measurements to black holes (2010), Cambridge University Press
[19] Leonhardt, U.; Simpson, W. M.R., Physical Review D, 84, 081701 (2011)
[20] Lifshitz, E. M., Zhurnal Eksperimental’noi i Teoreticheskoi Fiziki, 29, 94 (1955)
[21] Lifshitz, E. M.; Pitaevskii, L. P., Statistical Physics (Part 2) (2003), Butterworth-Heinemann
[22] Milonni, P. W., The quantum vacuum (1994), Academic Press: Academic Press London
[23] Milonni, P. W.; Ackerhalt, J. R.; Smith, W. A., Physical Review Letters, 31, 15, 958 (1973)
[25] Munday, J. N.; Capasso, F.; Parsegian, V. A., Nature, 457, 170 (2009)
[26] Philbin, T. G., New Journal of Physics, 12, 123008 (2010) · Zbl 1448.81386
[27] Philbin, T. G., New Journal of Physics, 13, 063026 (2011)
[28] Philbin, T. G.; Xiong, C.; Leonhardt, U., Annals of Physics, 325, 579 (2009)
[29] Pitaevskii, L. P., Physical Review A, 73, 047801 (2006)
[31] Raabe, C.; Welsch, D.-G., Physical Review A, 71, 013814 (2005)
[32] Rahi, S. J.; Emig, T.; Graham, N.; Jaffe, R. L.; Kardar, M., Physical Review D, 80, October, 085021 (2009)
[33] Rodriguez, A. W.; Capasso, F.; Johnson, S. G., Nature Photonics, 5, 211 (2011)
[35] Sahni, V.; Starobinsky, A., International Journal of Modern Physics D, 9, 4, 373-443 (2000)
[38] Schwinger, J.; DeRaad, L. L.; Milton, K. A., Annals of Physics, 115, 1-23 (1978)
[41] Weinberg, S., Reviews of Modern Physics, 61, 1-21 (1981)
This reference list is based on information provided by the publisher or from digital mathematics libraries. Its items are heuristically matched to zbMATH identifiers and may contain data conversion errors. In some cases that data have been complemented/enhanced by data from zbMATH Open. This attempts to reflect the references listed in the original paper as accurately as possible without claiming completeness or a perfect matching.