Repulsive Casimir Forces

2002/02/20 by Oded Kenneth, O. Kenneth, Israel Klich +3 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Experimental and Theoretical Physics Studies #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #cond-mat.stat-mech #hep-th #quant-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.89.033001

published as Phys.Rev.Lett. 89 (2002) 033001

arxiv created 2002/02/20 · openalex publication_date 2002/06/25 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We discuss repulsive Casimir forces between dielectric materials with nontrivial magnetic susceptibility. It is shown that considerations based on the naive pairwise summation of van der Waals and Casimir-Polder forces may not only give an incorrect estimate of the magnitude of the total Casimir force but even the wrong sign of the force when materials with high dielectric and magnetic responses are involved. Indeed repulsive Casimir forces may be found in a large range of parameters, and we suggest that the effect may be realized in known materials. The phenomenon of repulsive Casimir forces may be of importance both for experimental study and for nanomachinery applications.

Citations

• Measurement of the Casimir Force between Parallel Metallic Surfaces
• Stiction, adhesion energy, and the Casimir effect in micromechanical systems
• The general theory of van der Waals forces
• New Developments in the Casimir Effect
• Small object limit of the Casimir effect and the sign of the Casimir force
• Classical Electrodynamics

Cited by

• Casimir effect [wikipedia]