Casimir effect for dielectric plates

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Abstract
A critical review of Casimir forces and their various interpretations is given. The Casimir effect for the case of dielectric slabs is studied in detail. The electromagnetic field is quantized in the presence of dielectric material and the notion of physical photons is introduced. The Casimir force originates from the pressure of the electromagnetic field in the vacuum state on the slab and is calculated with the help of the Maxwell stress tensor. It is shown that the Casimir force depends in a simple way on the mode density of the electromagnetic field. The dependence of the Casimir force on the reflection coefficient and the plate thickness is found.