Singularities in the acoustic Casimir pressure as a function of reflectivities

TL;DR

This paper investigates how imperfect reflectivity affects the acoustic Casimir pressure between plates, revealing singular behaviors and conditions leading to repulsion in specific noise environments.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of singularities in acoustic Casimir pressure related to reflectivity and spectral properties, extending understanding beyond perfect reflectors.

Findings

Pressure tends to strong repulsion at small separations due to modes between plates.

Large-bandwidth pressure sensitivity depends on reflectivity and infrared cutoff.

Singular behavior occurs as reflection coefficients approach unity, influencing plate interactions.

Abstract

We study the acoustic Casimir pressure between imperfectly reflecting plates immersed in various isotropic noise backgrounds. Unlike the case of perfect reflectors, the force tends to strong repulsion at small plate separations due to the existence of modes between the plates. Additionally, in a noise field of constant spectral intensity, the large-bandwidth limit of the pressure has a reflectivity-dependent sensitivity to the infrared cutoff; we uncover the associated singular behavior as the product of the reflection coefficients approaches 1, which is intimately connected to a tendency of closely-spaced plates to repel if placed in a narrowly peaked spectral background.