Electrostatic patch effects in Casimir force experiments performed in the sphere-plane geometry

Autor: Behunin, R. O., Zeng, Y., Dalvit, D. A. R., Reynaud, S.
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Zdroj: Phys. Rev. A 86, 052509 (2012)
Druh dokumentu: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.86.052509
Popis: Patch potentials arising from the polycrystalline structure of material samples may contribute significantly to measured signals in Casimir force experiments. Most of these experiments are performed in the sphere-plane geometry, yet, up to now all analysis of patch effects has been taken into account using the proximity force approximation which, in essence, treats the sphere as a plane. In this paper we present the exact solution for the electrostatic patch interaction energy in the sphere- plane geometry, and derive exact analytical formulas for the electrostatic patch force and minimizing potential. We perform numerical simulations to analyze the distance dependence of the minimizing potential as a function of patch size, and quantify the sphere-plane patch force for a particular patch layout. Once the patch potentials on both surfaces are measured by dedicated experiments our formulas can be used to exactly quantify the sphere-plane patch force in the particular experimental situation.
Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures
Databáze: arXiv