Stable Casimir equilibria and quantum trapping
Abstract
Two uncharged objects (metal plates for instance) will experience an attractive force between them, the magnitude of which increases as they are brought closer together. This force, or Casimir effect, is caused by vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. Effectively, more modes outside than between the objects results in the objects being pushed together. Zhao et al. show that the extent of the electromagnetic fluctuations can be controlled by coating one of the objects with a dielectric (Teflon), which changes the Casimir effect to a repulsive force at small distances. This then cancels out the force between plates and produces a point of stable equilibrium.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jun 07, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1126/science.aax0916
Entities
People
- Lin Li
- Paul Ashby
- Rongkuo Zhao
- Sui Yang
- Wei Bao
- Xiang Zhang
- Yang Xia
- Yuan Wang
Organizations
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Office of Naval Research
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Hong Kong