Casimir forces in the time domain: Theory

Alejandro W. Rodriguez, Alexander P. McCauley, John D. Joannopoulos, and Steven G. Johnson

Phys. Rev. A 80, 012115 – Published 27 July 2009

Abstract

We present a method to compute Casimir forces in arbitrary geometries and for arbitrary materials based on the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) scheme. The method involves the time evolution of electric and magnetic fields in response to a set of current sources, in a modified medium with frequency-independent conductivity. The advantage of this approach is that it allows one to exploit existing FDTD software, without modification, to compute Casimir forces. In this paper, we focus on the derivation, implementation choices, and essential properties of the time-domain algorithm, both considered analytically and illustrated in the simplest parallel-plate geometry.

Received 1 April 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.80.012115

Authors & Affiliations

Alejandro W. Rodriguez¹, Alexander P. McCauley¹, John D. Joannopoulos¹, and Steven G. Johnson²

¹Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
²Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

Casimir forces in the time domain: Applications

Alexander P. McCauley, Alejandro W. Rodriguez, John D. Joannopoulos, and Steven G. Johnson

Phys. Rev. A 81, 012119 (2010)

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Issue

Vol. 80, Iss. 1 — July 2009

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