2003/03/31 by Stefan Yoshi Buhmann, Ho Trung Dung, Dirk-Gunnar Welsch +1 · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1464-4266/6/3/020
published as Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics 6 (3), S127 (2004); Erratum: Journal of Physics B: Atomic and Molecular Physics 39 (14), 3145 (2006) · 13 pages, 1 figure, RevTex, minor correction in Sec. III.1 (see erratum)
openalex publication_date 2004/03/01 · arxiv created 2006/08/29 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Within the frame of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics in causal media, a rigorous derivation of the van der Waals energy of an atomic system in the presence of an arbitrary arrangement of dispersing and absorbing dielectric bodies is given. As an application, the van der Waals potential of an atom in the presence of a dispersing and absorbing sphere is derived. Closed expressions for the long-distance (retardation) and short-distance (non-retardation) limits are given, and the effect of material absorption is discussed.