Profile
Diego A. R. Dalvit
Theoretical physicist; documented at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2024
Dalvit researches Casimir interactions, quantum optics and light–matter interactions. He coauthored the 2016 materials review of Casimir and van der Waals forces and the 2011 paper reporting a measurement of the thermal Casimir force. These works connect theoretical models of fluctuation-induced forces with experimental measurements.
Affiliations
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Physics of Condensed Matter and Complex Systems Group (T-4), documented in 2024
Channels
Bibliography
A bibliography listing does not establish authorship. Credits appear under attribution.
Published bibliography entries: 3. Showing 1–3 of 3.
Listed work
Paper · 2016
Materials perspective on Casimir and van der Waals interactions
- L. M. Woods(Author)
- D. A. R. Dalvit(Author)
- A. Tkatchenko(Author)
- P. Rodriguez-Lopez(Author)
- A. W. Rodriguez(Author)
- R. Podgornik(Author)
Woods, Dalvit, Tkatchenko, Rodriguez-Lopez, Rodriguez and Podgornik review van der Waals and Casimir forces, which fluctuations of the electromagnetic field create at every length scale between any finite systems. These forces matter both for the basic science of materials and for designing micro- and nano-structured devices. The review summarises major breakthroughs and stresses that the two interactions share a common origin. It covers ab initio modelling, materials with Dirac-like spectra, controlling the force through nontrivial boundary conditions, and van der Waals forces in organic and biological matter. Materials may hold the answers to several open problems in fluctuation-induced phenomena.
Listed work
Paper · 2011
Observation of the thermal Casimir force
- A. O. Sushkov(Author)
- W. J. Kim(Author)
- D. A. R. Dalvit(Author)
- S. K. Lamoreaux(Author)
Sushkov, Kim, Dalvit and Lamoreaux report the experimental observation of the thermal Casimir force, driven by thermal rather than quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. Earlier measurements had not settled whether the Drude model or the plasma model correctly describes the low-frequency dielectric response. They measured the attraction between a flat and a spherical gold plate at separations from 0.7 µm to 7 µm, including the electrostatic force from surface potential patches. The data agree excellently, with a reduced χ2 of 1.04, with the Drude-model Casimir force including the 300 K thermal force. The thermal force dominates the quantum one beyond 3 µm, and the plasma model is excluded across the measured range.
Listed work
Paper · 2008
Contribution of drifting carriers to the Casimir-Lifshitz and Casimir-Polder interactions with semiconductor materials
- Diego A. R. Dalvit(Author)
- Steve K. Lamoreaux(Author)
Diego Dalvit and Steve Lamoreaux develop a theory of Casimir-Lifshitz and Casimir-Polder forces with semiconductor or insulator surfaces that includes charge drift in the bulk, using the classical Boltzmann equation. Waves inside semiconductors interact with drifting carriers, the basis of effects such as solid-state travelling-wave amplification. They derive frequency-dependent dispersion relations that reduce to the usual Lifshitz results for dielectrics. In the quasi-static limit they match recent results that include Debye screening in the thermal Lifshitz force for surfaces with few carriers. The approach modifies the Casimir-Lifshitz force between such materials and gives a way to describe the effect of small conductivity.