Casimir Effect : Theory and Experiments

TL;DR

This paper reviews the theoretical foundations and experimental progress in understanding the Casimir effect, emphasizing the importance of real-world factors like temperature, surface imperfections, and geometry in aligning theory with experiments.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent developments in Casimir physics, highlighting advances in theory and experimental validation considering real-world complexities.

Findings

Improved agreement between theory and experiment over recent years.

Significant role of surface physics and thermal effects in Casimir force measurements.

Enhanced understanding of geometric influences on the Casimir effect.

Abstract

The Casimir effect is a crucial prediction of Quantum Field Theory which has fascinating connections with open questions in fundamental physics. The ideal formula written by Casimir does not describe real experiments and it has to be generalized by taking into account the effects of imperfect reflection, thermal fluctuations, geometry as well as the corrections coming from surface physics. We discuss these developments in Casimir physics and give the current status in the comparison between theory and experiment after years of improvements in measurements as well as theory.