Profile
Robert L. Jaffe
Emeritus professor of science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jaffe is a theoretical physicist whose research includes quark structure and Casimir interactions. With collaborators, he developed analytical and computational methods for forces that depend on material geometry. His 2005 Casimir paper examines whether measuring the force uniquely establishes vacuum zero-point energy. It accepts the force and separates its calculation from that interpretation.
Affiliations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics
Channels
Bibliography
A bibliography listing does not establish authorship. Credits appear under attribution.
Published bibliography entries: 1. Showing 1–1 of 1.
Listed work
Paper · 2005
The Casimir Effect and the Quantum Vacuum
- R. L. Jaffe(Author)
R. L. Jaffe examines what a measurement of the Casimir force tells us about the quantum vacuum. The measured attraction between conducting objects can be calculated as a quantum electromagnetic interaction involving charges and currents, without assigning the result to zero-point energy. His argument concerns the interpretation of the force, whose existence the paper accepts. He shows that the force disappears as the electromagnetic coupling approaches zero, although the familiar ideal-conductor formula hides that dependence. The properties of the material and assumptions used to derive the formula therefore matter when interpreting its apparent universality. The paper asks whether Casimir measurements uniquely establish the reality of vacuum zero-point energy; it leaves the broader question of that energy's existence outside its scope.