CASIMIR EFFECT FOR A PERFECTLY CONDUCTING WEDGE

The Casimir surface force on a perfectly conducting wedge with opening angle alpha is calculated by means of Schwinger's source theory. The wedge geometry is an attractive system to study, since it is nontrivia l enough to demonstrate the main features of quantum field theory appl ied to media, and yet simple since it avoids the divergences associate d with curved boundaries. We regularize the energy-momentum tensor by subtracting its value in free space. The surface pressure diverges as r(-4) near to the vertex; the physical reason for this is the idealize d boundary conditions implying the neglect of a finite skin depth. Our final results agree with those oi. Deutsch and Candelas (1979) and ot hers, developed along different lines. An inconsistency in earlier cal culations is pointed out and corrected. Possible experimental conseque nces are discussed. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.