Ontological aspects of the Casimir effect

DOI10.1016/J.SHPSB.2014.08.001zbMATH Open1301.81260arXiv1307.6083OpenAlexW2043879801WikidataQ56041193 ScholiaQ56041193MaRDI QIDQ476068FDOQ476068

Authors: William M. R. Simpson 

Publication date: 27 November 2014

Published in: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Part B. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: The role of the vacuum, in the Casimir Effect, is a matter of some dispute: the Casimir force has been variously described as a phenomenon resulting "from the alteration, by the boundaries, of the zero-point electromagnetic energy", or a "Van der Waals force between the metal plates" that can be "computed without reference to zero point energies". Neither of these descriptions are grounded in a consistently quantum mechanical treatment of matter interacting with the electromagnetic field. However, the Casimir Effect has been canonically described within the framework of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics. On this account, the force is seen to arise due to the coupling of fluctuating currents to the zero-point radiation, and it is in this restricted sense that the phenomenon requires the existence of zero-point fields. The conflicting descriptions of the Casimir Effect, on the other hand, appear to arise from inadequate ontologies in which an unwarranted metaphysical priority is assigned either to the matter or the fields. Such ontological errors may have a direct bearing on the problem of the cosmological constant and the correct prediction of the Casimir force in a state of thermal equilibrium.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1307.6083

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zbMATH Keywords

vacuumcosmological constantCasimir effectquantum field theorymacroscopic quantum electrodynamicsCasimir-Lifshitz forces

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Physics (00A79) Electromagnetic interaction; quantum electrodynamics (81V10) Einstein's equations (general structure, canonical formalism, Cauchy problems) (83C05) Casimir effect in quantum field theory (81T55)

Cites Work

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Cited In (5)

• A naïve HMO study of the Casimir effect
• Disguised electromagnetic connections in classical electron theory
• The vacuum energy: Casimir effect and the cosmological constant
• Is zero-point energy physical? A toy model for Casimir-like effect
• Gravitational Casimir effect, the Lifshitz theory, and the existence of gravitons

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