Reply to 'Comment on 'Casimir force acting on magnetodielectric bodies embedded in media''
Creators
- 1. Theoretisch-Physikalisches Institut, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, D-07743 Jena (Germany)
Description
In a recent Comment [I. Brevik and S. A. Ellingsen, Phys. Rev. A 79, 027801 (2009)], our position that the calculation of dispersion forces should be based preferably on the Lorentz force (or, equivalently, on Maxwell's stress tensor) is put into question, and it is argued that one should resort to Minkowski's stress tensor instead. After sketching briefly our reasons for preferring the Lorentz force, we point out that by use of Minkowski's stress tensor additional, compensatory force components are included in the calculation, but inconsistently. We consider the electrostatic arguments given in support of Minkowski's tensor in the Comment as unconvincing, and we point out that the issue of divergences raised in the Comment in the context of planar setups is not specific to Maxwell's stress tensor.
Additional details
Identifiers
Publishing Information
- Journal Title
- Physical Review. A
- Journal Volume
- 80
- Journal Issue
- 6
- Journal Page Range
- p. 067801-067801.2
- ISSN
- 1050-2947
- CODEN
- PLRAAN
INIS
- Country of Publication
- United States
- Country of Input or Organization
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- INIS RN
- 41086604
- Subject category
- S71: CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; S72: PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS;
- Descriptors DEI
- CASIMIR EFFECT; LORENTZ FORCE; MINKOWSKI SPACE; OPTICS; QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS; STRESSES; TENSORS
- Descriptors DEC
- ELECTRODYNAMICS; FIELD THEORIES; MATHEMATICAL SPACE; QUANTUM FIELD THEORY; SPACE
Optional Information
- Notes
- (c) 2009 The American Physical Society