Of value to the general scientific public, this is the first book in the world scientific literature devoted to the Casimir effect. This topic has important applications in the fields of elementary particle physics, statistical physics, quantum field theory, gravitation and cosmology.

In its simplest manifestation, the Casimir effect is a quantum force of attraction between two parallel uncharged conducting plates. More generally, it refers to the interaction OCo which may be either attractive or repulsive OCo between material bodies due to quantum fluctuations in whatever fields are relevant. It is a local version of the van der Waals force between molecules. Its sweep ranges from perhaps its being the origin of the cosmological constant to its being responsible for the confinement of quarks. This monograph develops the theory of such forces, based primarily on physically transparent Green''s function techniques, and makes applications from quarks to the cosmos, as well as observable consequences in condensed matter systems. It is aimed at graduate students and researchers in theoretical physics, quantum field theory, and applied mathematics. Contents: Introduction to the Casimir Effect; Casimir Force Between Parallel Plates; Casimir Force Between Parallel Dielectrics; Casimir Effect with Perfect Spherical; The Casimir Effect of a Dielectric Ball: The Equivalence of the Casimir Effect and van der Waals Forces; Application to Hadronic Physics: Zero-Point Energy in the Bag Model; Casimir Effect in Cylindrical Geometries; Casimir Effect in Two Dimensions: The Maxwell-Chern-Simons Casimir Effect; Casimir Effect on a D -dimensional Sphere; Cosmological Implications of the Casimir Effect; Local Effects; Sonoluminescene and the Dynamical Casimir Effect; Radiative Corrections to the Casimir Effect; Conclusions and Outlook; Appendices: Relation of Contour Integral Method to Green''s Function Approach; Casimir Effect for a Closed String. Readership: High-energy, condensed-matter and nuclear physicists."

The subject of this book is the Casimir effect, a manifestation of zero-point oscillations of the quantum vacuum resulting in forces acting between closely spaced bodies. For the benefit of the reader, the book assembles field-theoretical foundations of this phenomenon, applications of the general theory to real materials, and a comprehensive description of all recently performed measurements of the Casimir force with a comparison between experiment and theory. There is an urgent need for a book of this type, given the increase of interest in forces originating from the quantum vacuum. Numerous new results have been obtained in the last few years which are not reflected in previous books on the subject, but which are very promising for fundamental science and nanotechnology. The book is a unique source of information presenting a critical assessment of all the main results and approaches from hundreds of journal papers. It also outlines new ideas which have not yet been universally accepted but which are finding increasing support from experiment.

Casimir effects serve as primary examples of directly observable manifestations of the nontrivial properties of quantum fields, and as such are attracting increasing interest from quantum field theorists, particle physicists, and cosmologists. Furthermore, though very weak except at short distances, Casimir forces are universal in the sense that all material objects are subject to them. They are thus also an increasingly important part of the physics of atom-surface interactions, while in nanotechnology they are being investigated not only as contributors to ‘stiction’ but also as potential mechanisms for actuating micro-electromechanical devices. While the field of Casimir physics is expanding rapidly, it has reached a level of maturity in some important respects: on the experimental side, where most sources of imprecision in force measurements have been identified as well as on the theoretical side, where, for example, semi-analytical and numerical methods for the computation of Casimir forces between bodies of arbitrary shape have been successfully developed. This book is, then, a timely and comprehensive guide to the essence of Casimir (and Casimir-Polder) physics that will have lasting value, serving the dual purpose of an introduction and reference to the field. While this volume is not intended to be a unified textbook, but rather a collection of largely independent chapters written by prominent experts in the field, the detailed and carefully written articles adopt a style that should appeal to non-specialist researchers in the field as well as to a broader audience of graduate students.

Zeta-function regularization is a powerful method in perturbation theory, and this book is a comprehensive guide for the student of this subject. Everything is explained in detail, in particular the mathematical difficulties and tricky points, and several applications are given to show how the procedure works in practice, for example in the Casimir effect, gravity and string theory, high-temperature phase transition, topological symmetry breaking, and non-commutative spacetime. The formulae, some of which are new, can be directly applied in creating physically meaningful, accurate numerical calculations. The book acts both as a basic introduction and a collection of exercises for those who want to apply this regularization procedure in practice. Thoroughly revised, updated and expanded, this new edition includes novel, explicit formulas on the general quadratic, the Chowla-Selberg series case, an interplay with the Hadamard calculus, and also features a fresh chapter on recent cosmological applications, including the calculation of the vacuum energy fluctuations at large scale in braneworld and other models.

Space-time in a vacuum has generally been viewed as a transparent and ubiquitous empty continuum within which physical events take place. However quantum field theory and quantum electrodynamics views the vacuum as the sum total of all zero-point fluctuations of the vacuum electromagnetic field, arising from the continuous creation and annihilation of virtual particle pairs. It is this latter more contemporary view that is, for the first time, more fully explored in text form with Physics of the Zero Point Field. The scope of applications in this book range from the Casimir effect, the variation in zero-point energy at the boundaries of a region observable in nano-scale devices, to ideas for a proposed inertial drive as first described by Puthoff.

This book is the result of several years of work by the authors on different aspects of zeta functions and related topics. The aim is twofold. On one hand, a considerable number of useful formulas, essential for dealing with the different aspects of zeta-function regularization (analytic continuation, asymptotic expansions), many of which appear here, in book format, for the first time are presented. On the other hand, the authors show explicitly how to make use of such formulas and techniques in practical applications to physical problems of very different nature. Virtually all types of zeta functions are dealt with in the book.