Repulsive Casimir force between gyroelectric slabs

Abstract

We obtain the repulsive Casimir force between two parallel gyroelectric slabs, thus overcoming the difficulty that the repulsive Casimir force is difficult to achieve in a naturally occurring material. Under practically realizable parameters, we realize the crossover from attractive (repulsive) to repulsive (attractive) forces by changing either the external static magnetic field, the background permittivity of the gyroelectric medium, the slab’s thickness or the gap between the slabs. The proposed configuration, unlike the artificial metamaterial one, does not require the careful design of the material’s micro-structure, and hence is expected to be a practical candidate for obtaining a repulsive Casimir force.