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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
The Casimir effect is the attraction between electrically neutral objects due to the quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. After a general introduction, I will describe the experimental setup that we have developed to measure the Casimir force and investigate its dependence on the optical properties of the interacting surfaces. I will further show that our setup allows us also to explore hydrodynamic forces between objects kept at separations comparable to the mean free path of the surrounding gas molecules. After discussing the case of inert gases, I will illustrate a particular experiment in which the interaction of the gas with the surfaces gives rise to non-trivial phenomena that still need to be completely understood. Finally, I will present a new miniaturized setup that, thanks to a novel optical fiber force sensor, can find a wide range of applications in surface force physics under critical environmental conditions.
Host: Francesco Intravaia