The interaction of an atom with electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations in the presence of a pair of perfectly conducting plates

Abstract

The interaction of an atom with the electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations in the space between a pair of parallel, perfectly conducting plates is investigated. The retarded Van der Waals potential between the atom and the plates is calculated. The extent to which the atom may be regarded as measuring the expectation value of quantities which are quadratic in the field operators is discussed. A heuristic treatment of the effect of the plates on the Lamb shift is also given.