Casimir energy for spherically symmetric dispersive dielectric media

Abstract

We consider the vacuum energy of the electromagnetic field in the background of spherically symmetric dielectrics, subject to a cut-off frequency in the dispersion relations. The effect of this frequency dependent boundary condition between media is described in terms of the {\it incomplete} $\zeta$-functions of the problem. The use of the Debye asymptotic expansion for Bessel functions allows to determine the dominant (volume, area, ...) terms in the Casimir energy. The application of these expressions to the case of a gas bubble immersed in water is discussed, and results consistent with Schwinger's proposal about the role the Casimir energy plays in sonoluminescence are found. PACS: 03.70.+k,12.20.Ds,78.60.Mq