Casimir-Polder force between an atom and a dielectric plate: thermodynamics and experiment

Abstract

The low-temperature behavior of the Casimir-Polder free energy and entropy for an atom near a dielectric plate are found on the basis of the Lifshitz theory. The obtained results are shown to be thermodynamically consistent if the dc conductivity of the plate material is disregarded. With inclusion of dc conductivity, both the standard Lifshitz theory (for all dielectrics) and its generalization taking into account screening effects (for a wide range of dielectrics) violate the Nernst heat theorem. The inclusion of the screening effects is also shown to be inconsistent with experimental data of Casimir force measurements. The physical reasons for this inconsistency are elucidated.

10 pages, 1 figure; improved discussion; to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. (Fast Track Communications)

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• Current status of the problem of thermal Casimir force
• Photon momentum and optical forces in cavities
• Casimir-Polder Interaction of an Atom with a Cavity Wall Made of Phase-Change Material out of Thermal Equilibrium
• Unified position-dependent photon-number quantization in layered structures
• Universal experimental test for the role of free charge carriers in thermal Casimir effect within a micrometer separation range
• Apparatus to probe the influence on the Casimir effect of the Mott-Anderson metal-insulator transition in doped semiconductors
• The Casimir-Polder interaction of an atom and real graphene sheet: Verification of the Nernst heat theorem
• Van der Waals forces and spatial dispersion
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