Centimetre scale models could compute Casimir forces

The Casimir force is notoriously difficult to measure. So tricky is it, that the first accurate measurements weren’t made until 1997 and even today only a handful of labs around the world of capable of taking its measure. Of course there are various ways of modelling what goes on theoretically but even the most powerful simulations these struggle to cope with simple shapes let alone complex geometries. Consequently, our knowledge of the Casimir force and how to exploit it is poor.

Now Alejandro W. Rodriguez and pals at MIT are suggesting a rather entertaining third way: to calculate Casimir forces using scale models that work like analogue computers.

References

Alejandro W. Rodriguez, Alexander P. McCauley, John D. Joannopoulos, Steven G. Johnson. Ingredients of a Casimir analog computer.
http://arxiv.org/abs/0903.0599