Drude Model Approach Research Articles

Casimir force, causality, and the Gurzhi model

An extended Drude model, termed as the Gurzhi model, which takes into account the electron-phonon and electron-electron interactions, is applied to calculate the Casimir force between two metallic plates. It is shown that although the dielectric permittivity of the Gurzhi model has a first order pole in the upper half-plane of complex frequencies and, thus, violates the causality principle, it can be used in a restricted frequency interval in combination with the experimental permittivity determined by the optical data for the complex index of refraction. The imaginary part of the Gurzhi dielectric permittivity of Au at low frequencies demonstrates better agreement with the permittivity given by the optical data than the simple Drude model. The Casimir pressure between two Au plates is computed using the Gurzhi, Drude and plasma model approaches, taking into account the optical data, as well as with the simple Drude and plasma models. The contribution of the electron-electron scattering to the Casimir pressure is estimated. Although a comparison with the measurement data of two precise experiments show that the Gurzhi model does not resolve the Casimir puzzle, the obtained results suggest further clarification of this fundamental problem.

Casimir free energy and pressure for magnetic metal films

We examine the Casimir free energy and pressure of magnetic metal films, which are free-standing in vacuum, sandwiched between two dielectric plates, and deposited on either nonmagnetic or magnetic metallic plates. All calculations are performed using both the Drude and plasma model approaches to the Lifshitz theory. According to our results, the Casimir free energies and pressures calculated using both theoretical approaches are significantly different in the magnitude and sign even for thin films of several tens of nanometers thickness. Thus, for the Ni film of 47\,nm thickness deposited on a Fe plate the obtained magnitudes of the Casimir free energy differ by the factor of 5866. We show that the Casimir free energy and pressure of a magnetic film calculated using the plasma model approach do not possess the classical limit, but exponentially fast drop to zero with increasing film thickness. If the Drude model approach is used, the classical limit is reached for magnetic films of about 150\,nm thickness, but the Casimir free energy remains nonzero in the limit of ideal metal, contrary to expectations. For the plasma model approach the Casimir free energy of a film vanishes in this case. Numerical computations are performed for the magnetic films made of Ni, nonmagnetic plates made of Cu and Al, and magnetic plates made of Fe using the tabulated optical data for the complex indexes of refraction of all metals. The obtained results can be used for a discrimination between the plasma and Drude model approaches in the Casimir physics and in the investigation of stability of thin films.

Characteristic properties of the Casimir free energy for metal films deposited on metallic plates

The Casimir free energy and pressure of thin metal films deposited on metallic plates are considered using the Lifshitz theory and the Drude and plasma model approaches to the role of conduction electrons. The bound electrons are taken into account by using the complete optical data of film and plate metals. It is shown that for films of several tens of nanometers thickness the Casimir free energy and pressure calculated using these approaches differ by hundreds and thousands percent and can be easily discriminated experimentally. According to our results, the free energy of a metal film does not vanish in the limiting case of ideal metal if the Drude model approach is used in contradiction with the fact that the fluctuating field cannot penetrate in its interior. Numerical computations of the Casimir free energy and pressure of Ag and Au films deposited on Cu and Al plates have been performed using both theoretical approaches. It is shown that the free energy of a film can be both negative and positive depending on the metals used. For a Au film on a Ag plate and vice versa the Casimir energy of a film changes its sign with increasing film thickness. Applications of the obtained results for resolving the Casimir puzzle and the problem of stability of thin films are discussed.

Casimir free energy of metallic films: Discriminating between Drude and plasma model approaches

We investigate the Casimir free energy of a metallic film either sandwiched between two dielectric plates or in vacuum. It is shown that even for a thin film of several tens of nanometer thickness the Casimir free energy and pressure calculated with the Lifshitz theory using the Drude model and the plasma model approaches take significantly different values and can be easily discriminated. According to our results, the classical limit is already achieved for films of about 100\,nm thickness if the Drude model approach is used in calculations. In this case the classical expressions for the Casimir free energy and pressure are common for both configurations considered. If the plasma model approach is used, the classical limit is not achieved for any film thickness. Instead, the Casimir free energy and pressure are decreasing exponentially to zero. When the plasma frequency goes to infinity, the Casimir free energy obtained using the Drude model approach goes to a nonzero limit in contradiction with expectations. If the plasma model approach is used the free energy of metallic film goes to zero in the limit of infinitely large plasma frequency. All analytic results are accompanied by numerical computations performed for a Au film and sapphire plates. The possibilities to observe the predicted effects discriminating between the Drude and plasma model approaches are discussed.

How to confirm and exclude different models of material properties in the Casimir effect

We formulate a method allowing us to confirm or exclude the alternative models of material properties at some definite confidence level in experiments on measuring the Casimir force. The method is based on the consideration of differences between the theoretical and mean measured quantities and the confidence intervals for these differences found at sufficiently high or low confidence probabilities. The developed method is applied to the data of four recent experiments on measuring the gradient of the Casimir force by means of a dynamic atomic force microscope. It is shown that in experiments with Au–Au and Ni–Ni test bodies, where the Drude model approach is excluded at a 95% confidence level, the plasma model approach agrees with the data at higher than 90% confidence. In experiments using an Au sphere interacting with either a Ni plate or a graphene-coated substrate, the measurement data agree with the common prediction of the Drude and plasma model approaches and theory using the polarization tensor at 90% and 80% confidence levels, respectively.

Effect of a cosmic string on spin dynamics

In the present paper, we have investigated the role of cosmic string on spin current and Hall electric field. Due to the background cosmic string, the modified electric field of the system generates renormalized spin orbit coupling, which induces a modified non-Abelian gauge field. The defect causes a change in the AB and AC phases appearing due to the modified electromagnetic field. In addition, for a time varying electric field we perform explicit analytic calculations to derive the exact form of spin electric field and spin current, which is defect parameter dependent and of oscillating type. Furthermore, in an asymmetric crystal within the Drude model approach we investigate the dependence of the cosmic string parameters on cosmic string induced Hall electric field.

Dynamical Casimir-Polder Force Between a Metallic Particle and a Perfectly Conducting Plate

For the first time, we have studied the impact of magnetic polarizability of a neutral metallic particle on the dynamical Casimir-Polder force, when the particle is uniformly moving with relativistic velocity parallel to the surface of an ideally conducting plate. The material properties of particle are taken into account within the Drude model approach.

Comment on “Casimir Force andIn SituSurface Potential Measurements on Nanomembranes”

Recently D. Garcia-Sanches, K. Y. Fong, H. Bhaskaran, S. Lamoreaux, and H. X. Tang [Phys. Rev. Lett. v.109, 027202 (2012)] claimed that the frequency shift of an oscillator under the influence of the residual electric and Casimir forces is best described by the Drude model approach to the Casimir force and excludes the plasma model approach. We demonstrate that calculations in support of this claim are performed incorrectly and that the measured data are in strong disagreement with both theoretical approaches to the Casimir force, thus, suggesting the presence of an unaccounted systematic error in the data.

Thermal Casimir effect in the interaction of graphene with dielectrics and metals

We investigate the thermal Casimir interaction of a suspended graphene described by the Dirac model with a plate made of dielectric or metallic materials. The reflection coefficients on graphene expressed in terms of a temperature-dependent polarization tensor are used. We demonstrate that for a graphene with nonzero mass gap parameter the Casimir free energy remains nearly constant (and the thermal correction negligibly small) over some temperature interval. For the interaction of graphene with metallic plate, the free energy is nearly the same, irrespective of whether the metal is nonmagnetic or magnetic and whether it is described using the Drude or plasma model approaches. The free energy, computed using the Dirac model, was compared with that computed using the hydrodynamic model of graphene and big differences accessible for experimental observation have been found. For dielectric and nonmagnetic metallic plates, described by the Drude model, these differences vanish with increasing temperature (separation). However, for nonmagnetic metals, described by the plasma model, and for magnetic metals, a strong dependence on the chosen theoretical description of graphene remains even at high temperature. In all cases, the analytic asymptotic expressions for the free energy at high temperature are obtained and found to be in a very good agreement with the results of numerical computations.

Gradient of the Casimir force between Au surfaces of a sphere and a plate measured using an atomic force microscope in a frequency-shift technique

We present measurement results for the gradient of the Casimir force between an Au-coated sphere and an Au-coated plate obtained by means of an atomic force microscope operated in a frequency shift technique. This experiment was performed at a pressure of 3x10^{-8} Torr with hollow glass sphere of 41.3 mcm radius. Special attention is paid to electrostatic calibrations including the problem of electrostatic patches. All calibration parameters are shown to be separation-independent after the corrections for mechanical drift are included. The gradient of the Casimir force was measured in two ways with applied compensating voltage to the plate and with different applied voltages and subsequent subtraction of electric forces. The obtained mean gradients are shown to be in mutual agreement and in agreement with previous experiments performed using a micromachined oscillator. The obtained data are compared with theoretical predictions of the Lifshitz theory including corrections beyond the proximity force approximation. An independent comparison with no fitting parameters demonstrated that the Drude model approach is excluded by the data at a 67% confidence level over the separation region from 235 to 420 nm. The theoretical approach using the generalized plasma-like model is shown to be consistent with the data over the entire measurement range. Corrections due to the nonlinearity of oscillator are calculated and the application region of the linear regime is determined. A conclusion is made that the results of several performed experiments call for a thorough analysis of the basics of the theory of dispersion forces.

PRECISION MEASUREMENT OF THE CASIMIR FORCE FOR Au USING A DYNAMIC AFM

The gradient of the Casimir force between carefully cleaned Au surfaces of a sphere and a plate is measured using a dynamic atomic force microscope in the frequency modulation regime in high vacuum. The electrostatic calibration of the setup did not reveal any effect of patches or surface contaminants. The experimental data for the force gradient are found to be consistent with theory using the plasma model approach over the entire measurement range. The Drude model approach is excluded by the data at separations from 235 to 400 nm at a 67% confidence level.

OBSERVATION OF THE THERMAL CASIMIR FORCE IS OPEN TO QUESTION

We discuss theoretical predictions for the thermal Casimir force and compare them with available experimental data. Special attention is paid to the recent claim of the observation of that effect, as predicted by the Drude model approach. We show that this claim is in contradiction with a number of experiments reported so far. We suggest that the experimental errors, as reported in support of the observation of the thermal Casimir force, are significantly underestimated. Furthermore, the experimental data at separations above 3μm are shown to be in agreement not with the Drude model approach, as is claimed, but with the plasma model. The seeming agreement of the data with the Drude model at separations below 3 μm is explained by the use of an inadequate formulation of the proximity force approximation.

Thermal precipitation of silver nanoparticles and thermoluminescence in tellurite glasses

Silver metal and/or oxide precipitation of nanoparticles in thermally treated Ag-doped tellurite glasses was studied by optical absorption (OA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The Lorentzian adjusted silver nanoparticles plasma resonance OA band was compared to the Drude model approach. The silver nanoparticles size distribution on the surface rather than in the bulk was determined by TEM. A model for the metallic silver precipitation is proposed. The characterization of the formation of silver nanoparticles was carried out with differential thermal analysis (DTA) to determine the glass transition temperature (Tg) and of crystallization (Tc). Previously γ-irradiated samples exhibited thermoluminescence (TL) peaks and the defect centers TeOHC, NBOHC and TeEC were identified by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), but no Ag 0 signal was detected. The silver nanoparticles are known to introduce desired third-order optical nonlinearities in the composites, at wavelengths close to the characteristic surface-plasmon resonance of the metal precipitates. An increase of the glass density and refractive index with increasing AgNO 3 content was observed.

OBSERVATION OF THE THERMAL CASIMIR FORCE IS OPEN TO QUESTION

We discuss theoretical predictions for the thermal Casimir force and compare them with available experimental data. Special attention is paid to the recent claim of the observation of that effect, as predicted by the Drude model approach. We show that this claim is in contradiction with a number of experiments reported so far. We suggest that the experimental errors, as reported in support of the observation of the thermal Casimir force, are significantly underestimated. Furthermore, the experimental data at separations above 3 μm are shown to be in agreement not with the Drude model approach, as is claimed, but with the plasma model. The seeming agreement of the data with the Drude model at separations below 3 μm is explained by the use of an inadequate formulation of the proximity force approximation.

Possibility of measuring thermal effects in the Casimir force

We analyze the possibility to measure small thermal effects in the Casimir force between metal test bodies in configurations of a sphere above a plate and two parallel plates. For sphere-plate geometry used in many experiments we investigate the applicability of the proximity force approximation (PFA) to calculate thermal effects in the Casimir force and its gradient. It is shown that for real metals the two formulations of the PFA used in the literature lead to relative differences in the obtained results being less than a small parameter equal to the ratio of separation distance to sphere radius. For ideal metals the PFA results for the thermal correction are obtained and compared with available exact results. It is emphasized that in the experimental region in the zeroth order of the small parameter mentioned above the thermal Casimir force and its gradient calculated using the PFA (and thermal corrections in their own right) coincide with respective exact results. For real metals available exact results are outside the application region of the PFA. However, the exact results are shown to converge to the PFA results when the small parameter goes down to the experimental values. We arrive at the conclusion that large thermal effects predicted by the Drude model approach, if existing at all, could be measured in both static and dynamic experiments in sphere-plate and plate-plate configurations. As to the small thermal effects predicted by the plasma model approach, the static experiment in the configuration of two parallel plates is found to be the best for its observation.

Thermal Casimir interaction between two magnetodielectric plates

We investigate the thermal Casimir interaction between two magnetodielectric plates made of real materials. On the basis of the Lifshitz theory, it is shown that for diamagnets and for paramagnets in the broad sense (with exception of ferromagnets) the magnetic properties do not influence the magnitude of the Casimir force. For ferromagnets, taking into account the realistic dependence of magnetic permeability on frequency, we conclude that the impact of magnetic properties on the Casimir interaction arises entirely from the contribution of the zero-frequency term in the Lifshitz formula. The computations of the Casimir free energy and pressure are performed for the configurations of two plates made of ferromagnetic metals (Co and Fe), for one plate made of ferromagnetic metal and the other of nonmagnetic metal (Au), for two ferromagnetic dielectric plates (on the basis of polystyrene), and for a ferromagnetic dielectric plate near a nonmagnetic metal plate. The dielectric permittivity of metals is described using both the Drude and the plasma model approaches. It is shown that the Casimir repulsion through the vacuum gap can be realized in the configuration of a ferromagnetic dielectric plate near a nonmagnetic metal plate described by the plasma model. In all cases considered, the respective analytical results in the asymptotic limit of large separations between the plates are obtained. The impact of the magnetic phase transition through the Curie temperature on the Casimir interaction is considered. In conclusion, we propose several experiments allowing to determine whether the magnetic properties really influence the Casimir interaction and to independently verify the Drude and plasma model approaches to the thermal Casimir force.

Model Potential Approaches for Describing the Interaction of Excess Electrons with Water Clusters: Incorporation of Long-Range Correlation Effects

In this work we focus on the binding of excess electrons to water clusters, a problem for which dispersion interactions, which originate from long-range correlation effects, are especially important. Two different model potential approaches, one using quantum Drude oscillators and the other using polarization potentials, are investigated for describing the long-range correlation effects between the weakly bound excess electron and the more tightly bound electrons of the monomers. We show that these two approaches are related in that the polarization potential models can be derived from the quantum Drude model approach by use of an adiabatic separation between the excess electron and the Drude oscillators. The model potential approaches are applied to clusters containing up to 45 water monomers. Where possible, comparison is made with the results of ab initio electronic structure calculations. Overall, the polarization potential approach is found to give electron binding energies in good agreement with those from the Drude model and ab initio calculations, with the greatest discrepancies being found for "cavity-bound" anion states.

Novel constraints on light elementary particles and extra-dimensional physics from the Casimir effect

We present supplementary information on the recent indirect measurement of the Casimir pressure between two parallel plates using a micromachined oscillator. The equivalent pressure between the plates is obtained by means of the proximity force approximation after measuring the force gradient between a gold coated sphere and a gold coated plate. The data are compared with a new theoretical approach to the thermal Casimir force based on the use of the Lifshitz formula, combined with a generalized plasma-like dielectric permittivity that takes into account interband transitions of core electrons. The theoretical Casimir pressures calculated using the new approach are compared with those computed in the framework of the previously used impedance approach and also with the Drude model approach. The latter is shown to be excluded by the data at a 99.9% confidence level within the wide separation range from 210 to 620 nm. The level of agreement between the data and theoretical approaches based on the generalized plasma model, or the Leontovich surface impedance, is used to set stronger constraints on the Yukawa forces predicted from the exchange of light elementary particles and/or extra-dimensional physics. The resulting constraints are the strongest in the interaction region from 20 to 86 nm with a largest improvement by a factor of 4.4 at 26 nm.

Electron Attachment to (H2O)2Arn Clusters

The neutral and negatively charged (H 2 O) 2 Ar n , n = 1-14, clusters are investigated theoretically by use of a polarizable model potential together, in the case of the anionic clusters, with a Drude-model approach to incorporate dispersion interactions between the excess electron and the argon atoms and water molecules. The (H 2 O) 2 Ar 1 1 and (H 2 O) 2 -Ar 1 2 clusters are predicted to be magic numbers, with their high stability being a result of their global minima adopting icosahedral-like structures. On the basis of these results, a mechanism for formation of the anions is proposed. In addition, the rapid falloff in intensity of the n ≥ 7 anionic clusters in the observed mass spectrum and the absence of observable signal for the n = 10 cluster are accounted for.

A Drude-model approach to dispersion interactions in dipole-bound anions

A one-electron model potential for calculating the binding energy of an excess electron interacting with polar molecules and their clusters is described. The unique feature of this potential is the treatment of polarization and dispersion effects by means of a Drude model. The approach is tested by calculating the energies for binding an excess electron to HCN, (HCN)2, HNC, and (HNC)2. The model potential results are found to be in good agreement with the predictions of high-level all-electron calculations.