Vacuum Casimir energy densities and field divergences at boundaries
We consider and review the emergence of singular energy densities and field fluctuations at sharp boundaries or point-like field sources in the vacuum. The presence of singular energy densities of a field may be relevant from a conceptual point of view, because they contribute to the self-energy of the system. They should also generate significant gravitational effects. We first consider the case of the interface between a metallic boundary and the vacuum, and obtain the structure of the singular electric and magnetic energy densities at the interface through an appropriate limit from a dielectric to an ideal conductor. Then, we consider the case of a point-like source of the electromagneti…
New horizons for fundamental physics with LISA
K. G. Arun et al.
Electromagnetic field fluctuations near a dielectric-vacuum boundary and surface divergences in the ideal conductor limit
We consider the electric and magnetic field fluctuations in the vacuum state in the region external to a half-space filled with a homogeneous non-dissipative dielectric. We discuss an appropriate limit to an ideal metal and concentrate our interest on the renormalized field fluctuations, or equivalently to renormalized electric and magnetic energy densities, in the proximity of the dielectric-vacuum interface. We show that surface divergences of field fluctuations arise at the interface in an appropriate ideal conductor limit, and that our limiting procedure allows to discuss in detail their structure. Field fluctuations close to the surface can be investigated through the retarded Casimir-…