Scattering-matrix approach to Casimir-Lifshitz force and heat transfer out of thermal equilibrium between arbitrary bodies

Riccardo Messina (1) , Mauro Antezza (2)

1 SYRTE - Systèmes de Référence Temps Espace
2 L2C - Laboratoire Charles Coulomb

We study the radiative heat transfer and the Casimir-Lifshitz force occurring between two bodies in a system out of thermal equilibrium. We consider bodies of arbitrary shape and dielectric properties, held at two different temperatures and immersed in environmental radiation at a third different temperature. We derive explicit closed-form analytic expressions for the correlations of the electromagnetic field and for the heat transfer and Casimir-Lifshitz force in terms of the bodies' scattering matrices. We then consider some particular cases which we investigate in detail: the atom-surface and the slab-slab configurations.

Domaines: Physique Quantique [quant-ph]

Riccardo Messina, Mauro Antezza. Scattering-matrix approach to Casimir-Lifshitz force and heat transfer out of thermal equilibrium between arbitrary bodies. Physical Review A : Atomic, molecular, and optical physics [1990-2015], 2011, 84 (042102), pp.042102. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevA.84.042102⟩. ⟨hal-00627218⟩