Casimir-Polder potential and transition rate in resonating cylindrical cavities

Abstract: We consider the Casimir-Polder potential of particles placed inside a metallic cylindrical cavity at finite temperatures, taking account of thermal non-equilibrium effects. In particular, we study how the resonant (thermal non-equilibrium) potential and transition rates can be enhanced by fine-tuning the radius of the cavity to match the transition wavelength of the dominant transition of the particle. Numerical calculations show that the CP potential acting atoms prepared in low-lying Rydberg states can be enhanced beyond 30 kHz, which is within the range of observability of modern experiments. Because the magnitude of the resonance peaks depend sensitively on the low frequency dissipation of the cavity metal, experiments in this set-up could be a critical test of the disputed thermal correction to the Casimir force between metal plates.