Statistical approach to Casimir-Polder potentials in heterogeneous media

Abstract

We explore the statistical properties of the Casimir-Polder potential between a dielectric sphere and a three-dimensional heterogeneous medium, by means of extensive numerical simulations based on the scattering theory of Casimir forces. The simulations allow us to confirm recent predictions for the mean and standard deviation of the Casimir potential, and give us access to its full distribution function in the limit of a dilute distribution of heterogeneities. These predictions are compared with a simple statistical model based on a pairwise summation of the individual contributions of the constituting elements of the medium.

Casimir-Polder force fluctuations as spatial probes of dissipation in metals

“…In the following, we provide for the first time a detailed description of these spatial fluctuations for a metallic plate, which turn out to be richer than the fluctuations arising with dielectric disordered materials [14][15][16]. We discover that unlike the mean CP potential, at T = 0 and large distances the variation of these fluctuations with the sphere-plate separation distance significantly depends on the amount of dissipation in the metallic bulk.…”

Nontrivial retardation effects in dispersion forces: From anomalous distance dependence to novel traps

“…Dispersion forces, which include the Casimir [1] and Lifshitz [2] force between two dielectric bodies, the Casimir-Polder [3] force between a dielectric body and a polarisable particle, and the London-van der Waals force [4,5] between two polarisable particles, all arise from ground-state fluctuations of the electromagnetic fields. These forces which typically lead to an attractive interaction between the constituents, have been much studied both experimentally [6][7][8][9] and and theoretically in great detail [10][11][12]. Systems in which dispersion forces act across a region of vacuum have received most attention and a number of asymptotic results have been established for different geometries [13].…”