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Measurement of the Temperature Dependence of the Casimir-Polder Force

J. M. Obrecht, R. J. Wild, M. Antezza, L. P. Pitaevskii, S. Stringari, and E. A. Cornell
Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 063201 – Published 8 February 2007

Abstract

We report on the first measurement of a temperature dependence of the Casimir-Polder force. This measurement was obtained by positioning a nearly pure Rb87 Bose-Einstein condensate a few microns from a dielectric substrate and exciting its dipole oscillation. Changes in the collective oscillation frequency of the magnetically trapped atoms result from spatial variations in the surface-atom force. In our experiment, the dielectric substrate is heated up to 605 K, while the surrounding environment is kept near room temperature (310 K). The effect of the Casimir-Polder force is measured to be nearly 3 times larger for a 605 K substrate than for a room-temperature substrate, showing a clear temperature dependence in agreement with theory.

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  • Received 1 August 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.063201

©2007 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

J. M. Obrecht1,*, R. J. Wild1, M. Antezza2, L. P. Pitaevskii2,3, S. Stringari2, and E. A. Cornell1,†

  • 1JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA, and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, USA
  • 2Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trento and CNR-INFM BEC Center, Via Sommarive 14, I-38050 Povo, Trento, Italy
  • 3Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems, ulitza Kosygina 2, 119334 Moscow, Russia

  • *Electronic address: john.obrecht@colorado.edu
  • Also at Quantum Physics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80309-0440, USA.

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Issue

Vol. 98, Iss. 6 — 9 February 2007

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