Casimir effect: The classical limit (Q5931232)

The high temperature limit of the Casimir effect is studied. Using path integral techniques, it is shown that the relative Casimir energy vanishes exponentially fast in temperature. The relative Casimir entropy is also defined and it is proved that in the classical limit it tends to a finite asymptotic value which depends only on the geometry of the boundaries. It is shown that the Casimir force between disjoint pieces of the boundary is entropy driven and is governed by a dimensionless number characterizing the geometry of the cavity. Logarithmic deviations in temperature of the contributions to the Casimir thermodynamical quantities due to each individual connected component of the boundary are observed. It is suggested that these deviations are due to the difficulty to separate the Casimir energy from the ''electromagnetic'' self-energy of each component. Corrections to the Casimir effect due to deviations from perfect conductor behaviour are also determined.