Surface Scattering Expansion of the Casimir–Polder Interaction for Magneto-Dielectric Bodies: Convergence Properties for Insulators, Conductors, and Semiconductors

Fluctuation-induced forces are a hallmark of the interplay between fluctuations and geometry. We recently proved the existence of a multi-parametric family of exact representations of Casimir and Casimir–Polder interactions between bodies of arbitrary shape and material composition, admitting a mult...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Giuseppe Bimonte, Thorsten Emig
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-02-01
Series:Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2624-8174/6/1/14
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Summary:Fluctuation-induced forces are a hallmark of the interplay between fluctuations and geometry. We recently proved the existence of a multi-parametric family of exact representations of Casimir and Casimir–Polder interactions between bodies of arbitrary shape and material composition, admitting a multiple scattering expansion (MSE) as a sequence of inter-body and intra-body multiple wave scatterings. The approach requires no knowledge of the scattering amplitude (T-matrix) of the bodies. In this paper, we investigate the convergence properties of the MSE for the Casimir–Polder interaction of a polarizable particle with a macroscopic body. We consider representative materials from different classes, such as insulators, conductors, and semiconductors. Using a sphere and a cylinder as benchmarks, we demonstrate that the MSE can be used to efficiently and accurately compute the Casimir–Polder interaction for bodies with smooth surfaces.
ISSN:2624-8174