CASIMIR FORCE BETWEEN A GRAVITATIONAL FIELD AND A FINITE OBJECT

Abstract

In the typical Casimir effect, the boundaries of two semi-infinite media exert a force upon one another across a vacuum gap separating them. In this paper, I argue that a static gravitational field can be regarded as a "soft" boundary which interacts with a test object of finite size through the electromagnetic zero-point-energy field. Therefore, a pressure exists upon a single slab placed in a gravitational field and surrounded by a vacuum. Interestingly, this extremely small Casimir pressure of the gravitational field may cause relative displacements in ground-based sensing microstructures larger than those from astrophysical gravitational waves in macroscopic antennas.