Hannover 2010 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 21: Poster I
Q 21.62: Poster
Dienstag, 9. März 2010, 16:00–19:00, Lichthof
Model free, direct measurement of Casimir-Polder-Potentials in the transition regime — •Christian Stehle, Helmar Bender, Philippe W. Courteille, Carsten Marzok, Claus Zimmermann, and Sebastian Slama — Physikalisches Institut, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 14, D-72076 Tübingen
The attractive force between atoms and surfaces is often referred to as Casimir-Polder force (CP). The form of the potential generating this force depends on the distance of the atoms from the surface. In the short range limit, for distances much closer than the wavelength of the atomic transition, the interaction can be regarded as an electrostatic interaction with a z−3 power law. In the long range limit retardation effects have to be taken into account, which leads to a z−4 power law. On the poster we present measurements of the CP force in the transition regime between these two limits. The measurements were performed by using a new method, which is based on the reflection of ultra cold atoms from an evanescent wave barrier. Note that this is the first method for the direct measurement of CP forces in the transition regime without the need for any assumption on the potential shape.