Proof that Casimir force does not originate from vacuum energy · HackerPapers discussions

Proof that Casimir force does not originate from vacuum energy — mentioned by magicalhippo

Sat, 11 Oct 2025 09:30:23 GMT

Note the paper discusses some proposals of positive-energy warp drives. The well-known Alcubierre drive[1] requires negative energy density. So while it dodges the critique of this paper, negative energy is highly likely to be unphysical. And no, what Michio Kaku fantasized on that Discovery show won't work as the Casimir effect isn't due to vacuum energy[2][3] and thus you can't get negative energy that way. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive [2]: https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.04143 [3]: https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0503158

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Proof that Casimir force does not originate from vacuum energy — mentioned by magicalhippo

Mon, 25 Mar 2019 09:08:45 GMT

AFAIK the Casimir force is due to the van der Waals force between the plates, so doesn't that spoil the negative energy party from the get-go? https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.04143 https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0503158

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Proof that Casimir force does not originate from vacuum energy — HN submission

Mon, 16 May 2016 21:40:25 GMT

Proof that Casimir force does not originate from vacuum energy

1 point; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.