Temperature-independent Casimir-Polder forces in arbitrary geometries
/ Authors
/ Abstract
We prove that the nonretarded Casimir-Polder potential of a particle in an energy eigenstate (hence in thermal nonequilibrium) is independent of the environment temperature for a well-conducting body of arbitrary shape. This is true even when the thermal photon numbers at the relevant atomic transition energies are large. A compact expression is obtained for the temperature-independent potential, which can greatly simplify calculations in nontrivial geometries for experimentally relevant systems such as Rydberg atoms and polar molecules. We give criteria for the validity of our temperature-independent result and derive general expressions for its leading corrections. They are illustrated by numerical studies of a particle near a gold sphere or inside a gold cylindrical cavity.
Journal: Physical Review A