Numerical Regularization of Electromagnetic Quantum Fluctuations in Inhomogeneous Dielectric Media

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new numerical regularization scheme for calculating electromagnetic Casimir stresses in inhomogeneous dielectric media, relevant for nanotechnology and micro-electromechanical systems.

Contribution

It presents a novel regularization method applicable to realistic inhomogeneous media, demonstrated through numerical estimation of Casimir stresses in various configurations.

Findings

The scheme accurately estimates Casimir stresses between conducting plates.

Inhomogeneous dielectric media significantly alter Casimir stress distributions.

The method shows potential for broad application in complex electromagnetic systems.

Abstract

Electromagnetic Casimir stresses are of relevance to many technologies based on mesoscopic devices such as MEMS embedded in dielectric media, Casimir induced friction in nano-machinery, micro-fluidics and molecular electronics. Computation of such stresses based on cavity QED generally require numerical analysis based on a regularization process. A new scheme is described that has the potential for wide applicability to systems involving realistic inhomogeneous media. From a knowledge of the spectrum of the stationary modes of the electromagnetic field the scheme is illustrated by estimating numerically the Casimir stress on opposite faces of a pair of perfectly conducting planes separated by a vacuum and the change in this result when the region between the plates is filled with an incompressible inhomogeneous non-dispersive dielectric.