The Spacetime Metric

Profile

Steve K. Lamoreaux

Professor of physics, Yale University

Lamoreaux develops precision experiments involving Casimir forces, ultracold neutrons and searches for axion dark matter. His Casimir work includes torsion-pendulum measurements and a collaborative study of thermal contributions to attraction between gold surfaces. These experiments compare measured forces with predictions that depend on material response, separation and electrostatic corrections.

Affiliations

  • Yale University, Department of Physics

Channels

Bibliography

A bibliography listing does not establish authorship. Credits appear under attribution.

Published bibliography entries: 2. Showing 1–2 of 2.

  1. Listed work

    Paper · 1997

    Demonstration of the Casimir Force in the 0.6 to 6 μm Range

    1. S. K. Lamoreaux(Author)

    In 1997, S. K. Lamoreaux measured the Casimir force between a curved conductor and a flat plate with a torsion pendulum, over separations of 0.6–6 micrometres. The paper reported agreement with theory at approximately five percent. A 1998 erratum corrected the finite-conductivity calculation and the local curvature of the lens. It retained the original data, revised the theoretical curves, and reported five-percent agreement for a copper calculation. A 2010 reanalysis proposed an additional correction from separation fluctuations, whose original values had not been measured; the raw data were no longer available. The author explicitly cautioned that this possible systematic effect did not verify the Drude model or disprove the plasma model.

  2. Listed work

    Paper · 2011

    Observation of the thermal Casimir force

    1. A. O. Sushkov(Author)
    2. W. J. Kim(Author)
    3. D. A. R. Dalvit(Author)
    4. 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.