Casimir torque in weak coupling

In this paper, dedicated to Johan Høye on the occasion of his 70th birthday, we examine manifestations of Casimir torque in the weak-coupling approximation, which allows exact calculations so that comparison with the universally applicable, but generally uncontrolled, proximity force approximation may be made. In particular, we examine Casimir energies between planar objects characterized by $δ$-function potentials, and consider the torque that arises when angles between the objects are changed. The results agree very well with the proximity force approximation when the separation distance between the objects is small compared with their sizes. In the opposite limit, where the size of one object is comparable to the separation distance, the shape dependence starts becoming irrelevant. These calculations are illustrative of what to expect for the torques between, for example, conducting planar objects, which eventually should be amenable to both improved theoretical calculation and experimental verification.

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