1207.5921 (G. Bimonte et al.)

Exact results for classical Casimir interactions: Dirichlet and Drude
model in the sphere-sphere and sphere-plane geometry    [PDF]

G. Bimonte, T. Emig

Analytic expressions that describe Casimir interactions over the entire range of separations have been limited to planar surfaces. Here we derive analytic expressions for the classical or high-temperature limit of Casimir interactions between two spheres (interior and exterior configurations), including the sphere-plane geometry as a special case, using bispherical coordinates. We consider both Dirichlet boundary conditions and metallic boundary conditions described by the Drude model. At short distances, closed-form expansions are derived from the exact result, displaying an intricate structure of deviations from the commonly employed proximity force approximation.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1207.5921