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arXiv · 1901.09111

Casimir forces in inhomogeneous media: renormalization and the principle of virtual work

Yang Li·Kimball A. Milton·Xin Guo·Gerard Kennedy·Stephen A. Fulling
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Abstract

We calculate the Casimir forces in two configurations, namely, three parallel dielectric slabs and a dielectric slab between two perfectly conducting plates, where the dielectric materials are dispersive and inhomogeneous in the direction perpendicular to the interfaces. A renormalization scheme is proposed consisting of subtracting the effect of one interface with a single inhomogeneous medium. Some examples are worked out to illustrate this scheme. Our method always gives finite results and is consistent with the principle of virtual work; it extends the Dzyaloshinskii-Lifshitz-Pitaeveskii force to inhomogeneous media.

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Yang Li, Kimball A. Milton, Xin Guo, Gerard Kennedy, Stephen A. Fulling. 2019-01-25. Casimir forces in inhomogeneous media: renormalization and the principle of virtual work. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.99.125004

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