Equivalence of van der Waals Forces between Solids and the Surface-Plasmon Interaction

Abstract

It is shown that the well-known Lifshitz formula for the retarded van der Waals attraction between two solid half-spaces can be obtained from the zero-point energy of the interacting surface plasmons.Received 21 December 1970DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.4.393©1971 American Physical Society