Erlangen 2022 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 24: Quantum Effects

Q 24.5: Poster

Tuesday, March 15, 2022, 16:30–18:30, P

Boundary Layer Model for the Reflectivity of a Metal and the Casimir Force — Mandy Hannemann and •Carsten Henkel — Universität Potsdam, Institut für Physik und Astronomie

The scattering of electromagnetic waves at a surface is a basic process in sensing and spectroscopy. It also determines dispersion forces of the van der Waals and Casimir(-Polder) type [1]. We revisit the reflectivity of a metallic surface combing a hydrodynamic model for conduction electrons with a boundary-layer theory [2]. Models based on a “no-slip” boundary condition involve a new length and time scale that characterises the near-surface response [3]. These parameters provide a framework that pushes theoretical calculations of the Casimir pressure between two planar surfaces closer to experimentally observed values. We compare the results to a recent proposal involving non-local dielectric functions [4].

[1] G. Bimonte and E. Santamato, “General theory of electromagnetic fluctuations near a homogeneous surface in terms of its reflection amplitudes,” Phys. Rev. A 76 (2007) 013810.

[2] D. Bedeaux and J. Vlieger, “Optical Properties of Surfaces” (World Scientific 2004).

[3] M. Hannemann, G. Wegner, and C. Henkel, “No-Slip Boundary Conditions for Electron Hydrodynamics and the Thermal Casimir Pressure,” Universe 7 (2021) 108

[4] G. L. Klimchitskaya and V. M. Mostepanenko, “An alternative response to the off-shell quantum fluctuations: A step forward in resolution of the Casimir puzzle,” Eur. Phys. J. C 80 (2020) 900.