Image method in the calculation of the van der Waals force between an atom and a conducting surface

Abstract

Initially, we make a detailed historical survey of van der Waals forces, collecting the main references on the subject. Then, we review a method recently proposed by Eberlein and Zietal to compute the dispersion van der Waals interaction between a neutral but polarizable atom and a perfectly conducting surface of arbitrary shape. This method has the advantage of relating the quantum problem to a corresponding classical one in electrostatics so that all one needs is to compute an appropriate Green function. We show how the image method of electrostatics can be conveniently used together with the Eberlein and Zietal mehtod (when the problem admits an image solution). We then illustrate this method in a couple of simple but important cases, including the atom-sphere system. Particularly, in our last example, we present an original result, namely, the van der Waals force between an atom and a boss hat made of a grounded conducting material.

This is a pedagogical and introductory paper on van der Waals forces between an atom and a conducting surface

References in corpus (11)

• The van der Waals energy of atomic systems near absorbing and dispersing bodies
• Retardation turns the van der Waals attraction into Casimir repulsion already at 3 nm
• Casimir-Polder repulsion: Polarizable atoms, cylinders, spheres, and ellipsoids
• Repulsive van der Waals forces due to hydrogen exposure on bilayer Graphene
• Repulsive long-range forces between anisotropic atoms and dielectrics
• Van der Waals Interactions in a Magneto-Dielectric Medium
• Dispersion forces between an atom and a perfectly conducting wedge
• Finite size effects and non-additivity in the van der Waals interaction
• Exact Casimir-Polder potentials: interaction of an atom with a conductor-patched dielectric surface
• Casimir repulsion beyond the dipole regime
• Sommerfeld's image method in the calculation of van der Waals forces

Cited by in corpus (12)

• Observation of Nanoscale Opto-Mechanical Molecular Damping; Origin of Spectroscopic Contrast in Photo Induced Force Microscopy
• Wading through the void: Exploring quantum friction and nonequilibrium fluctuations
• Interaction of a hydrogenlike ion with a planar topological insulator
• Repulsive van der Waals interaction between a quantum particle and a conducting toroid
• Casimir effect from a scattering approach
• The influence of a surface in the non-retarded interaction between two atoms
• Peak, valley and intermediate regimes in the lateral van der Waals force
• The van der Waals interaction in one, two and three dimensions
• Sign inversion in the lateral van der Waals force
• Regimes of the lateral van der Waals force in the presence of dielectrics
• Sign inversion in the lateral van der Waals force between an anisotropic particle and a plane with a hemispherical protuberance: an exact calculation
• On the Difference Between the Vacuum Casimir Energies for Grounded and Isolated Conductors