Dynamic van der Waals Interaction of a Moving Atom with the Walls of a Flat Slit

Abstract

A general expression was obtained for the dynamic energy of the van der Waals interaction of a neutral atom with a flat slit whose walls are characterized by a frequency-dependent dielectric permittivity. The interaction of cesium atoms with the walls of metallic (Au) and dielectric (SiC) slits id analyzed numerically at speeds of 1 E04 to 10 E07 m/s. As the speed of atoms grows, the dynamic potentials near the walls become substantially smaller in magnitude than static potentials, but, in the intermediate region, the former exceed the latter by a factor of 1.5-2.0 m/s in a specific range of speeds.