On the accuracy of the PFA: analogies between Casimir and electrostatic forces

FRANCISCO D MAZZITELLI, FERNANDO C LOMBARDO, AND PAULA I. VILLAR

Journal of Physics: Conference Series

IOP

Lugar: London; Año: 2009 vol. 161 p. 1 - 15

1742-6588

             We present an overview of the validity of the Proximity Force Approximation(PFA) in the calculation of Casimir forces between perfect conductors for different geometries,with particular emphasis for the configuration of a cylinder in front of a plane. In all cases wecompare the exact numerical results with those of PFA, and with asymptotic expansions thatinclude the next to leading order corrections. We also discuss the similarities and differencesbetween the results for Casimir and electrostatic forces.