Isolelectronic apparatus to probe the thermal Casimir force

Abstract

Isoelectronic differential force measurements provide a unique opportunity to probe controversial features of the thermal Casimir effect, that are still much debated in the current literature. Isolectronic setups offer two major advantages over conventional Casimir setups. On one hand they are immune from electrostatic forces caused by potential patches on the plates surfaces, that plague present Casimir experiments especially for separations in the micron range. On the other hand they can strongly enhance the discrepancy between alternative theoretical models that have been proposed to estimate the thermal Casimir force for metallic and magnetic surfaces. Thanks to these two features, isoelectronic differential experiments should allow to establish conclusively which among these models correctly describes the thermal Casimir force.