Showing papers by "Ephraim Fischbach published in 2006"
TL;DR: It is shown that the arguments against the traditional approach to the thermal Casimir force between real metals and in favor of one of the alternative approaches are contradicted by four recent experiments and violate the third law of thermodynamics.
Abstract: Recently, Brevik [Phys. Rev. E, 71, 056101 (2005)] adduced arguments against the traditional approach to the thermal Casimir force between real metals and in favor of one of the alternative approaches. The latter assume zero contribution from the transverse electric mode at zero frequency in qualitative disagreement with unity as given by the thermal quantum field theory for ideal metals. Those authors claim that their approach is consistent with experiments as well as with thermodynamics. We demonstrate that these conclusions are incorrect. We show specifically that their results are contradicted by four recent experiments and also violate the third law of thermodynamics (the Nernst heat theorem).
59 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse the present status of the problem (in particular, the advantages and disadvantages of the approaches based on the surface impedance and on the Drude model dielectric function) using rigorous analytical calculations of the entropy of a fluctuating field.
Abstract: It is well known that, beginning in 2000, the behaviour of the thermal correction to the Casimir force between real metals has been hotly debated. As was shown by several research groups, the Lifshitz theory, which provides the theoretical foundation for the calculation of both the van der Waals and Casimir forces, leads to different results depending on the model of metal conductivity used. To resolve these controversies, theoretical considerations based on the principles of thermodynamics and new experimental tests were invoked. We analyse the present status of the problem (in particular, the advantages and disadvantages of the approaches based on the surface impedance and on the Drude model dielectric function) using rigorous analytical calculations of the entropy of a fluctuating field. We also discuss the results of a new precise experiment on the determination of the Casimir pressure between two parallel plates by means of a micromechanical torsional oscillator.
53 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a special statistical analysis is proposed for the experimental data and for the results of the theoretical computations, where the random, systematic and total experimental errors are found as functions of separation, taking into account the distribution laws for each error at 95% confidence.
Abstract: In most experiments on the Casimir force the comparison between measurement data and theory was done using the concept of the root-mean-square deviation, a procedure that has been criticized in the literature. Here we propose a special statistical analysis which should be performed separately for the experimental data and for the results of the theoretical computations. In so doing, the random, systematic and total experimental errors are found as functions of separation, taking into account the distribution laws for each error at 95% confidence. Independently, all theoretical errors are combined to obtain the total theoretical error at the same confidence. Finally, the confidence interval for the differences between theoretical and experimental values is obtained as a function of separation. This rigorous approach is applied to two recent experiments on the Casimir effect.
15 citations