Classical Casimir force from a quasi-condensate of light

Abstract

We show that weakly incoherent optical beams propagating in a Kerr medium exhibit a universal algebraic coherence after a short propagation time, mimicking the quasi-long-range order of ultracold quantum Bose gases in two dimensions. If two plates are inserted in the medium, this optical quasi-condensate gives rise to a long-range Casimir-like force, attractive at large distances and repulsive at short distances.