T-4: PHYS OF CONDENSED MATTER & COMPLEX SYS, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Tailoring the quantum vacuum
The attractive force between two uncharged surfaces in a vacuum, first predicted by the Dutch theoretical physicist Hendrik Casimir almost 70 years ago, arises from quantum vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. For many years this “force from nothing” was little more than a theoretical curiosity, but interest in the Casimir effect has blossomed in recent years thanks to experimental breakthroughs. In this talk I will review the the theoretical and experimental state-of-the-art of Casimir physics. In particular, I will discuss Casimir interactions in nanostructured materials (including metamaterials and plasmonic nanostructures), and describe recent experiments aimed at tailoring the quantum vacuum.