The Casimir-Effect: No Manifestation of Zero-Point Energy

Abstract

The attractive force between metallic surfaces, predicted by Casimir in 1948, seems to indicate the physical existence and measurability of the quantized electromagnetic field's zero-point energy. It is shown in this article, that the measurements of that force do not confirm Casimir's model, but in fact disprove it's foundational assumption that metal plates may be represented in the theory by quantum-field-theoretical boundaries. The consequences for the cosmological constant problem are discussed.