Body-assisted van der Waals interaction between excited atoms

Abstract

We present a formula for the body-assisted van der Waals interaction potential between two atoms, one or both being prepared in an excited energy eigenstate. The presence of arbitrary arrangement for material environment is taken into account via the Green function. The resulting formula supports one of two conflicting findings recorded. The consistency of our formula is investigated by applying it for the case of two atoms in free space and comparing the resulting expression with the one found from the limiting Casimir-Polder potential between an excited atom and a small dielectric sphere.