engleski

Casimir force in layered systems

The Casimir effect in a general multilayered system is considered identifying the Casimir force in a layer with the net vacuum-field pressure in the multilayer with respect to that in the corresponding infinite medium. Using the properties of the macroscopic field operators appropriate for absorbing systems and a convenient form of the Green function for a multilayer, the Casimir force in a lossless layer of an otherwise absorbing multilayer is derived in a straightforwad and transparent way. The resulting expression depends only on the reflection coefficients of the surrounding stacks of layers and is of the same form as that obtained by the surface mode summation method for a completely lossless multilayer by Zhou and Spruch [Phys. Rev. A 52, 297 (1995)]. Owing to the recursion relations which the generalized Fresnel coefficinets satisfy, this result can be applied to more complex systems with planar symmetry. This is illustrated by deriving and considering in more detail the Casimir force on a dielectric (metallic) slab in a planar cavity with realistic mirrors.

Casimir force; absorbing multilayer; planar cavity

nije evidentirano