Computation of Casimir forces for dielectrics or intrinsic semiconductors based on the Boltzmann transport equation

Abstract

The interaction between drifting carriers and traveling electromagnetic waves is considered within the context of the classical Boltzmann transport equation to compute the Casimir-Lifshitz force between media with small density of charge carriers, including dielectrics and intrinsic semiconductors. We expand upon our previous work [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 101}, 163203 (2008)] and derive in some detail the frequency-dependent reflection amplitudes in this theory and compute the corresponding Casimir free energy for a parallel plate configuration. We critically discuss the the issue of verification of the Nernst theorem of thermodynamics in Casimir physics, and explicity show that our theory satisfies that theorem. Finally, we show how the theory of drifting carriers connects to previous computations of Casimir forces using spatial dispersion for the material boundaries.

9 pages, 2 figures; Contribution to Proceedings of "60 Years of the Casimir Effect", Brasilia, June 2008

References in corpus (3)

• Casimir Interactions for Anisotropic Magnetodielectric Metamaterials
• Analytical and Numerical Verification of the Nernst Theorem for Metals
• Casimir energy and entropy between dissipative mirrors

Cited by in corpus (4)

• The Casimir Effect and the Foundations of Statistical Physics
• Possibility of measuring the thermal Casimir interaction between a plate and a cylinder attached to a micromachined oscillator
• Progress in Experimental Measurements of the Surface-Surface Casimir Force: Electrostatic Calibrations and Limitations to Accuracy
• Van der Waals torque induced by external magnetic fields