Casimir Interaction

Abstract

We derive the Casimir-Polder interaction between two polarizable atoms with a method based on electromagnetic normal modes found by generating self-sustained fields. Numerical results are given for the alkali-metal atoms. We give results for both zero temperature and finite temperature. In connection with the finite temperature derivations we discuss classical and quantum contributions. We furthermore derive the equation of state for a Casimir-Polder gas and show that the corrections from going beyond van der Waals interactions are small.