Casimir force on a piston
Abstract
Description
We consider a massless scalar field obeying Dirichlet boundary conditions on the walls of a two-dimensional L x b rectangular box, divided by a movable partition (piston) into two compartments of dimensions a x b and (L-a) x b. We compute the Casimir force on the piston in the limit L -> infinity. Regardless of the value of a/b, the piston is attracted to the nearest end of the box. Asymptotic expressions for the Casimir force on the piston are derived for a << b and a >> b.
10 pages, 1 figure. Final version, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D
10 pages, 1 figure. Final version, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D