Casimir repulsion in moving media

TL;DR

This paper investigates how relative movement in layered dielectric media can induce a repulsive Casimir-Lifshitz force, revealing new possibilities for controlling quantum fluctuation forces in moving systems.

Contribution

It demonstrates that relative motion in stratified dielectric layers can lead to Casimir repulsion, a novel effect not previously characterized in such configurations.

Findings

Movement can induce Casimir repulsion between layers

Repulsive force depends on relative sliding velocities

Simple three-layer model illustrates the effect

Abstract

Casimir-Lifshitz interaction emerging from relative movement of layers in stratified dielectric media (e.g., non-uniformly moving fluids) is considered. It is shown that such movement may result in a repulsive Casimir-Lifshitz force exerted on the layers, with the simplest possible structure consisting of three adjacent layers of the same dielectric medium, where the middle one is stationary and the other two are sliding along a direction parallel to the interfaces of the layers.