Casimir energy and dilute dielectric ball

Valery N. Marachevsky

Published 2000-10-24Version 1

General formalism of quantum field theory and addition theorem for Bessel functions are applied to derive formula for Casimir-Polder energy of interaction between a polarizable particle and a dilute dielectric ball. The equivalence of dipole-dipole interaction and Casimir energy for dilute homogeneous dielectrics is shown. A novel method is used to derive Casimir energy of a dilute dielectric ball without divergences in calculations. Physically realistic model of a dilute ball is discussed. Different approaches to the calculation of Casimir energy of a dielectric ball are reviewed.