75 Years of the Casimir Effect: Advances and Prospects

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is devoted to the advances in and prospects of the Casimir effect, which was predicted by Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir seventy-five years ago and is being intensively studied both experimentally and theoretically at the present time. The multidisciplinary character of the Casimir effect is caused by the fact that it is determined by the zero-point and thermal fluctuations of quantized fields, which play an important role in any physical system. Modern discussions deal with concepts such as the Casimir force, the Casimir torque, Casimir energy and free energy, the Casimir entropy, non-equilibrium Casimir and Casimir–Polder forces, etc. These concepts are used in quantum field theory, condensed matter physics, nanotechnology, atomic physics, physics of elementary particles, and in gravitation and cosmology. Experiments that measure the Casimir force have already covered a wide class of physical systems, ranging from metallic, dielectric and semiconductor test bodies to nanostructured devices, metamaterials, and 2D materials, including graphene. Despite the great achievements in this field, the Lifshitz theory of Casimir forces, which was proposed by Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshitz in 1954, has long suffered from unresolved problems. These problems arise when describing the electromagnetic response of different materials to low-frequency electromagnetic fields by using simple partially phenomenological models.

Both research and review articles on all theoretical and experimental aspects of the Casimir effect, including a discussion of unresolved problems, are welcome for submission.

Prof. Dr. Galina L. Klimchitskaya
Prof. Dr. Vladimir M. Mostepanenko
Guest Editors

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