Casimir-Lifshitz interaction between bodies integrated in a microelectromechanical/nanoelectromechanical quantum damped oscillator

Abstract

A theory is proposed for the component of the Casimir-like force that arises between bodies embedded in a macroscopic quantum damped oscillator. When the oscillator's parameters depend on the distance between the bodies, the oscillator-induced Casimir-like force is generally determined by a broad spectral range extending to high frequencies, limited by the frequency dispersion of the damping function. Here it is shown that there is a large class of systems in which the low-frequency range dominates the forces. This allows for the use of the Ohmic approximation, which is crucial for extending the theory to the lumped element description of fluctuation-induced forces in electrical circuits. Estimates of the circuit-induced Casimir-Lifshitz force suggest that under certain conditions it can be identified experimentally due to its dependence on various circuit elements.