Exact Electromagnetic Casimir Energy of a Disk Opposite a Plane

TL;DR

This paper derives an exact semi-analytic scattering amplitude for a conducting disk and uses it to compute the electromagnetic Casimir energy, revealing significant overestimations by common approximation methods.

Contribution

It provides the first exact semi-analytic calculation of the electromagnetic scattering T-matrix for a disk, enabling precise Casimir energy computations.

Findings

Exact T-matrix for a conducting disk obtained

Casimir energy computed beyond proximity force approximation

PFA overestimates Casimir energy in various configurations

Abstract

Building on work of Meixner [J. Meixner, Z. Naturforschung 3a, 506 (1948)], we show how to compute the exact scattering amplitude (or $T$-matrix) for electromagnetic scattering from a perfectly conducting disk. This calculation is a rare example of a non-diagonal $T$-matrix that can nonetheless be obtained in a semi-analytic form. We then use this result to compute the electromagnetic Casimir interaction energy for a disk opposite a plane, for arbitrary orientation angle of the disk, for separations greater than the disk radius. We find that the proximity force approximation (PFA) significantly overestimates the Casimir energy, both in the case of the ordinary PFA, which applies when the disk is parallel to the plane, and the "edge PFA," which applies when the disk is perpendicular to the plane.