Physics
Scientific paper
Apr 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008jpha...41p0301b&link_type=abstract
Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical, Volume 41, Issue 16, pp. 160301 (2008).
Physics
1
Scientific paper
This special issue contains papers reflecting talks presented at the 8th Workshop on Quantum Field Theory Under the Influence of External Conditions (QFEXT07), held on 17 21 September 2007, at Leipzig University. This workshop gathered 108 physicists and mathematicians working on problems which are focused on the following topics:
•Casimir and van der Waals forces—progress in theory and new experiments, applications at micro- and nano-scale
•Casimir effect—exact results, approximate methods and mathematical problems
•Vacuum quantum effects in classical background fields—renormalization issues, singular backgrounds, applications to particle and high energy physics
•Vacuum energy and gravity, vacuum energy in supersymmetric and noncommutative theories.
This workshop is part of a series started in 1989 and 1992 in Leipzig by Dieter Robaschik, and continued in 1995, 1998 and 2001 in Leipzig by Michael Bordag. In 2003 this Workshop was organized by Kimball A Milton in Oklahoma, in 2005 by Emilio Elizalde in Barcelona and in 2007 it returned to Leipzig.
The field of physics after which this series of workshops is named is remarkably broad. It stretches from experimental work on the measurement of dispersion forces between macroscopic bodies to quantum corrections in the presence of classical background fields. The underlying physical idea is that even in its ground state (vacuum) a quantum system responds to changes in its environment. The universality of this idea makes the field of its application so very broad. The most prominent manifestation of vacuum energy is the Casimir effect. This is, in its original formulation, the attraction between conducting planes due to the vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. In a sense, this is the long-range tail of the more general dispersion forces acting between macroscopic bodies. With the progress in nanotechnology, dispersion forces become of direct practical significance. On a more theoretical side, the vacuum energy manifests itself as quantum corrections to masses of classical background fields like solitons. In astrophysics and cosmology it is discussed as a possible source for dark energy. The growing interest in this field can be judged from the number of citations received each year by the original paper by Casimir. This is shown in figure 1 (below).
Although such numbers must be viewed with caution, the increase of citations over the past decade is impressive. The most significant progress in the field during the last few years was made in the following three directions: precision measurements of the Casimir and Casimir Polder force, applications of the Lifshitz theory to real materials, and calculation of dispersion interactions between arbitrarily shaped bodies. With regard to measurements, modern laboratory techniques, such as atomic force microscopes and micromachined oscillators, allow one to obtain experimental data with an error of about a fraction of one percent. The comparison of the experimental data obtained at room temperature with the Lifshitz theory revealed serious problems and gave rise to controversial approaches. Some of these approaches were found to be consistent with data within an accuracy of 1 2%, whereas some others were found to be excluded by the data at a high confidence level. In the calculation of dispersion interactions
Figure 1
Figure 1. The number of citations received each year by the original paper by Casimir.
between arbitrarily shaped bodies important progress has been made using the representation of the interaction energy in terms of functional determinants or in the equivalent T-matrix approach. These representations allow for a direct numerical computation of the forces for ideal metal and dielectric configurations at any fixed separation. The analytical asymptotic expansions at both large and short separations can also be obtained. The latter, for the first time, demonstrated an analytic correction beyond the proximity force approximation. This has put the comparison of experiment with theory on a solid foundation.
We have divided the talks presented at the workshop into seven sections. Section I reflects theoretical progress achieved for arbitrarily shaped bodies. Section II is devoted to problems which arise in the Lifshitz theory in application to real materials. Sections III and IV cover the experimental issues and particle surface interactions including their role in nanostructures. Sections V and VI contain papers on more traditional subjects like quantum effects in background fields and gravitational implications. Section VII covers the role of quantum effects in black holes, cosmology and some questions of a more mathematical character.
As any rapidly developing field, quantum field theory under the influence of external conditions gives rise to numerous hot discussions. These discussions took place at the meeting and they are reflected in many contributions to this issue. The Guest Editors have not tried to smooth sharp contradictions between speakers but tried to ensure a fair treatment of all contributions.
The referees performed a very important role, helping to improve the presentation significantly in many contributions and to make them more clear for the reader. Our special gratitude goes to the staff of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical whose expertise and patience allowed us to successfully solve all problems arising in the publication process.
The organizers of the workshop are grateful to the University of Leipzig for providing an excellent environment, especially to the secretaries of the Institute for Theoretical Physics for their support in administrative tasks. Both the organizers and participants are grateful to the supporting organizations, namely the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (GZ: BO 1112/15-1 and 4851/295/07) and the Naturwissenschaftlich-Theoretisches Zentrum (NTZ) of the University of Leipzig. Thanks to their support it was possible to cover local expenses and partly cover travel costs, and to waive the conference fee for many participants.
Bordag Michael
Mostepanenko V. M.
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