Spectroscopic Measurements of the Casimir-Polder Interaction with Atoms and Molecules

Athanasios Laliotis (1) , Joao Carlos de Aquino Carvalho , Isabelle Maurin (1) , Martial Ducloy (1) , Daniel Bloch (1)

1 LPL - Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers

We present our recent experimental results on the near-field temperature dependence of the Casimir-Polder interaction due to the thermal excitation of surface waves [A. Laliotis et al., Nat. Commun., 5:4364 (2014)]. We also present the progress of our on-going experiment towards the demonstration of quantum near-field energy transfer from excited polaritons to atoms. Finally we discuss the prospects of measuring the Casimir-Polder interaction with more complex quantum objects, such as molecules.

Domaines: Physique Quantique [quant-ph]

Athanasios Laliotis, Joao Carlos de Aquino Carvalho, Isabelle Maurin, Martial Ducloy, Daniel Bloch. Spectroscopic Measurements of the Casimir-Polder Interaction with Atoms and Molecules. Casimir and Van der Waals physics: Progress and Prospects, Apr 2016, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR China. ⟨hal-01333572⟩