Reply to "Comment on 'Anomalies in electrostatic calibrations for the measurement of the Casimir force in a sphere-plane geometry'"

TL;DR

This paper clarifies the importance of precise geometrical and electrostatic surface characterizations in accurately measuring the Casimir force and assessing potential deviations from Newtonian gravity, responding to recent comments on their previous work.

Contribution

It emphasizes the critical role of detailed surface characterizations in Casimir force experiments, highlighting a key factor often overlooked in prior analyses.

Findings

Surface characterization is crucial for accurate Casimir force measurements.

Electrostatic calibration impacts the interpretation of experimental anomalies.

Precise geometrical data are essential for setting limits on Yukawian interactions.

Abstract

In a recent Comment, Decca et al. [Phys. Rev. A 79, 026101 (2009); arXiv:0809.3576] discussed the origin of the anomalies recently reported by us in Phys. Rev. A 78, 036102(R) (2008); arXiv:0812.0028 . Here we restate our view, corroborated by their considerations, that quantitative geometrical and electrostatic characterizations of the conducting surfaces (a topic not discussed explicitly in the literature until very recently) are critical for the assessment of precision and accuracy of the demonstration of the Casimir force and for deriving meaningful limits on the existence of Yukawian components possibly superimposed to the Newtonian gravitational interaction.