Quantum-geometric bounds on Casimir repulsion

Abstract

The quantum geometric tensor has been shown to bound the gap, optical absorption, and dielectric susceptibilities of materials. Here we derive new quantum-geometric bounds on the magnitude and sign of the Casimir force between two-dimensional plates in the long-distance limit. These bounds limit the previously attributed benefit of increasing the plate's Chern number to maximize repulsion, and give a quantum geometric origin to the stronger attractive force of metallic plates, regardless of their Chern number. These bounds allow us to infer that flat Chern bands that saturate geometric bounds, including Landau levels and moiré flat bands, enlarge the window where Casimir repulsion exists and bring the repulsive crossover to smaller, more experimentally relevant distances. We derive estimates for material platforms such as twisted MoTe$_2$. Our work shows that quantum-geometric bounds constrain repulsive Casimir forces beyond previously known theorems, and suggests new optimization strategies to observe repulsion.