THE FORCE BETWEEN 2 PARALLEL RIGID PLATES DUE TO THE RADIATION PRESSURE OF BROAD-BAND NOISE - AN ACOUSTIC CASIMIR EFFECT

Theoretical and experimental results are presented for the force law b etween two rigid, parallel plates due to the radiation pressure of bro adband acoustic noise. The noise is in the band of 5-15 kHz and has an intensity of 133 dB (re: 10(-12) W/m(2)). Excellent quantitative agre ement is shown between theory and experiment. These results constitute an acoustic analog for the Casimir effect, which is the force experie nced by two closely spaced uncharged conducting plates due to the quan tum electromagnetic zero-point field. In contrast to this case, howeve r, band-limited noise can cause the force to be attractive or repulsiv e as a function of separation between the plates. (C) 1998 Acoustical Society of America.