2014/11/17 by Adam Stokes, Robert Bennett · 8 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Boundary value problem #Casimir effect #Casimir pressure #Fermion #Fermionic field #Formalism (music) #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics #Quantum field theory #hep-th #quant-ph
paper · pdf · open access · doi:10.1016/j.aop.2015.05.011
published in Annals of Physics 360, 246-267 (Elsevier BV)
arxiv created 2014/11/17 · openalex publication_date 2015/05/12 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · arxiv updated 2018/03/15 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The Casimir force arises when a quantum field is confined between objects that apply boundary conditions to it. In a recent paper we used the two-spinor calculus to derive boundary conditions applicable to fields with arbitrary spin in the presence of perfectly reflecting surfaces. Here we use these general boundary conditions to investigate the Casimir force between two parallel perfectly reflecting plates for fields up to spin-2. We use the two-spinor calculus formalism to present a unified calculation of well-known results for spin-1/2 (Dirac) and spin-1 (Maxwell) fields. We then use our unified framework to derive new results for the spin-3/2 and spin-2 fields, which turn out to be the same as those for spin-1/2 and spin-1. This is part of a broader conclusion that there are only two different Casimir forces for perfectly reflecting plates—one associated with fermions and the other with bosons.