Comment on ``Precision measurement of the Casimir-Lifshitz force in a fluid''

Abstract

Recently J.N. Munday and F. Capasso [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 75}, 060102(R) (2007); arXiv:0705.3793] claimed that they have performed a precision measurement of the Casimir force between a sphere and a plate coated with Au, both immersed in ethanol. The measurement results were claimed to be consistent with the Lifshitz theory. We demonstrate that the calculation of the Casimir force between the smooth bodies following the authors prescription has a discrepancy up to 25% with respect to authors result. We show also that the attractive electrostatic force only due to the surface potential differences was underestimated by a factor of 590 and the charge double layer interaction was not taken into account. All this leads to the conclusion that the results of this experiment are in fact uncertain.

arXiv comment5 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review A; corrections are made in accordance to referee's suggestions

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• On the torque on birefringent plates induced by quantum fluctuations
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• Reply to "Comment on 'Precision measurement of the Casimir-Lifshitz force in a fluid'"
• Measurement of the Casimir force in a gas and in a liquid
• Normal and lateral Casimir force: Advances and prospects
• Variations of the Lifshitz-van der Waals force between metals immersed in liquids