https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00062-4
Exact crossover function for the Casimir force in a non-interacting Bose gas
1
Department of Theoretical Physics, Indian Association for the
Cultivation of Science
Jadavpur, Kolkata, 700 032, India
2
Department of Theoretical Sciences, S N Bose National Centre
for Basic Sciences, Sector-III,
Block-JD, Salt Lake, Kolkata, 700 098, India
Corresponding author: a pcnb@iacs.res.in
Received:
6
August
2008
Revised:
1
December
2008
Published online:
18
February
2009
An exact calculation of the Casimir force for a non-interacting Bose gas confined between two parallel plates is presented. The gas can be free or trapped, parallel to the plates. Depending on the finite size parameter λ/L (λ is the de Bröglie wavelength and L is the separation of the plates) and the density parameter nλ3 (n, the number density), the Casimir force crosses over from a power law to an exponential fall off is clearly seen. Since the Casimir force measurement requires very small values of L, one needs to take into account of the condensation in a finite system.
PACS: 05.30.-d – Quantum statistical mechanics / 05.30.Jp – Boson systems / 03.75.Hh – Static properties of condensates; thermodynamical, statistical, and structural properties
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2009
