Abstract
We calculate the increase in the number of modes (the Kac number) per unit length and the change in the zero-point energy (the Casimir energy) of the electromagnetic field resulting from the introduction of a thin, perfectly conducting cylindrical shell of elliptical cross section. Along the way we give a route to the calculation of these physical quantities. The Casimir energy is found to be attractive with the circular case corresponding to the energy maximum and the large eccentricity limit being the divergent energy minimum. As a result, with only Casimir stresses present, a fixed-area shell is unstable and might collapse onto itself. This instability is argued to persist at arbitrary temperature.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 022503 |
| Journal | Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics |
| Volume | 87 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 13 2013 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The REWIND trial was sponsored and funded by Eli Lilly and Company and led by an international steering committee that was coordinated by the Population Health Research Institute (Hamilton, ON, Canada), which also analysed the data for this report after the database was locked. ICON Clinical Research managed study sites and obtained data. Scientists employed by the funder were on the REWIND steering committee and contributed to trial design, trial implementation, and data interpretation. All authors and the sponsor jointly made the decision to submit for publication. The corresponding author had full access to all data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics