Casimir Force
Most recent answer: 10/22/2007
Q:
If there are four fundamental forces--gravity, EM, weak and strong--how does the Casimir force fit into this scheme?
- John (age 25)
Hilo, HI
- John (age 25)
Hilo, HI
A:
Nice question.
The Casimir force is not a separate force. Instead, it’s a consequence of quantum mechanical fluctuations in the forces between different objects. Another way of thinking of it is as a result of the effects of the objects on the minimum quantum energy of the fields in between the objects. In practice, the only Casimir force we measure is the one from the electromagnetic fields. The nuclear fields are too short-ranged and gravity is too weak to matter.
For more information see the Wikipedia article at:
Mike W.
Lee H
The Casimir force is not a separate force. Instead, it’s a consequence of quantum mechanical fluctuations in the forces between different objects. Another way of thinking of it is as a result of the effects of the objects on the minimum quantum energy of the fields in between the objects. In practice, the only Casimir force we measure is the one from the electromagnetic fields. The nuclear fields are too short-ranged and gravity is too weak to matter.
For more information see the Wikipedia article at:
Mike W.
Lee H
(published on 10/22/2007)