Quantum vacuum energies and Casimir forces between partially transparent $\delta$-function plates

Abstract

In this paper the quantum vacuum energies induced by massive fluctuations of one real scalar field on a configuration of two partially transparent plates are analysed. The physical properties of the infinitely thin plates are characterized by two Dirac-$\delta$ potentials. We find that an attractive/repulsive Casimir force arises between the plates when the weights of the $\delta$'s have equal/different sign. If some of the plates absorbs fluctuations below some threshold of energy (the corresponding weight is negative) there is the need to set a minimum mass to the scalar field fluctuations to preserve unitarity in the corresponding quantum field theory. Two repulsive $\delta$-interactions are compatible with massless fluctuations. The effect of Dirichlet boundary conditions at the endpoints of the interval $(-a,a)$ on a massless scalar quantum field theory defined on this interval is tantamount letting the weights of the repulsive $\delta$-interactions to $+\infty$.