Few-neutron systems with the long-range Casimir-Polder force

TL;DR

This paper investigates long-range Casimir-Polder electromagnetic forces involving neutrons and conducting surfaces, using neutron polarizabilities derived from chiral EFT, with potential implications for ultracold neutron confinement.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed calculation of neutron-neutron and neutron-surface Casimir-Polder interactions based on chiral EFT data.

Findings

Quantifies the magnitude of neutron-neutron Casimir-Polder forces.

Analyzes neutron interactions with conducting walls.

Discusses relevance to ultracold neutron confinement.

Abstract

In this work we present results of the long-range electromagnetic Casimir-Polder interactions between two neutrons, a neutron and a conducting wall, and a neutron between two walls. As input, we use the dynamic dipole polarizabilities of the neutron fitted to chiral EFT results up to the pion production threshold and at the onset of the Delta resonance. Our work can be relevant to the physics of confined ultracold neutrons inside bottles.