Bir halka seviyesinde Casimir kuvvetinin araştırılması

Casimir force was first discovered by Hendrik Casimir in 1948 and it is a physical effect originally proposed for the two neutral conducting parallel plate geometry whose successful meauserement by Lamoreaux et al. took almost five decades. Basically, it describes the existence of a force due to the quantum vacuum itself. For years, studies have been concentrated on the compatibility of the theory, namely the quantum electrodynamics, with experimental outcomes. Over the years the subject has grown tremendously and even became a topic of interdisciplinary studies within physics as well as engineering. After Lamoreaux's measurement with experimental errors taken under control, many studies have been inspired by this and later extended to involve different geometries including spherical and cylindrical surfaces which are proven to be more efficient. The main objective of the thesis is two-fold. Firstly, we aim to understand the origin of the casimir force at the most fundamental level through the use of quantum field theory. For that purpose various methods such as regularization techniques, the schwinger proper time and the effective action will be explored. Secondly, it has been known for a long time that radiative corrections to the Casimir force can be computed within the framework of the low-energy Quantum Electrodynamics. There are two such contributions known as the Uehling and Euler-Heisenberg corrections. These will also be discussed briefly.