In one minute

Astrid Lambrecht, Paulo Maia Neto and Serge Reynaud review the theory of the Casimir effect built on scattering techniques. The formalism is now largely mastered, so the accuracy of theory-experiment comparisons depends on how precisely experimental conditions are described. Imperfect knowledge of real mirrors' optical properties leaves uncertainty in reflection effects and keeps the temperature dependence of the force between dissipative mirrors under debate. Real mirrors are not perfectly specular, and a more general formalism with non-specular reflection, mixing wavevectors and polarisations, handles this. It has been used for roughness corrections and the lateral force between corrugated surfaces, where the proximity force approximation proves inaccurate.

The Casimir effect within scattering theory