We present results for the temperature behavior of the Casimir force for a system with a film geometry with thickness L subject to free boundary conditions and described by the n → ∞ limit of the O(n) model. These results extend over all temperatures, including the critical regime near the bulk critical temperature Tc, where the critical fluctuations determine the behavior of the force, and temperatures well below it, where its behavior is dictated by the Goldstone's modes contributions. The temperature behavior when the absolute temperature, T , is a finite distance below Tc, up to a logarithmic-in-L proximity of the bulk critical temperature, is obtained both analytically and numerically; the critical behavior follows from numerics. The results resemble-but do not duplicate-the experimental curve behavior for the force obtained for 4 He films.

We investigate the three-dimensional lattice XY model with nearest neighbor interaction. The vector order parameter of this system lies on the vertices of a cubic lattice, which is embedded in a system with a film geometry. The orientations of the vectors are fixed at the two opposite sides of the film. The angle between the vectors at the two boundaries is α where 0≤α≤π. We make use of the mean field approximation to study the mean length and orientation of the vector order parameter throughout the film--and the Casimir force it generates--as a function of the temperature T, the angle α, and the thickness L of the system. Among the results of that calculation are a Casimir force that depends in a continuous way on both the parameter α and the temperature and that can be attractive or repulsive. In particular, by varying α and/or T one controls both the sign and the magnitude of the Casimir force in a reversible way. Furthermore, for the case α=π, we discover an additional phase transition occurring only in the finite system associated with the variation of the orientations of the vectors.

The preceding Comment raises a few points concerning our paper [Phys. Rev. E 89, 042116 (2014)]. In this Reply we stress that although Diehl et al. [Europhys. Lett. 100, 10004 (2012) and Phys. Rev. E 89, 062123 (2014)] use three different models to study the Casimir force for the O(n→∞) model with free boundary conditions we study a single model over the entire range of temperatures from above the bulk critical temperature T(c) to absolute temperatures down to T=0. The use of a single model renders more transparent the crossover from effects dominated by critical fluctuations in the vicinity of the bulk transition temperature to effects controlled by Goldstone modes at low temperatures. Contrary to the assertion in the Comment, we make no claim for the superiority of our model over any of those considered by Diehl et al. [Europhys. Lett. 100, 10004 (2012) and Phys. Rev. E 89, 062123 (2014)]. We also present additional evidence supporting our conclusion in Dantchev et al. [Phys. Rev. E 89, 042116 (2014)] that the temperature range in which our low-temperature analytical expansion for the Casimir force increases as L grows and remains accurate for values of the ratio T/T(c) that become closer and closer to unity, whereas T remains well outside of the critical region.