Vacuum field correlations and three-body Casimir–Polder potential with one excited atom

Abstract

The three-body Casimir–Polder potential between one excited and two ground-state atoms is evaluated. A physical model based on the dressed field correlations of vacuum fluctuations is used, generalizing a model previously introduced for three ground-state atoms. Although the three-body potential with one excited atom is already known in the literature, our model gives new insights on the nature of non-additive Casimir–Polder forces with one or more excited atoms.

Acknowledgments

This work was in part supported by the European Commission under contract No. HPHA-CT-2001-40002 and by the bilateral Italian–Japanese project 15C1 on Quantum Information and Computation of the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Partial support by Ministero dell'Universitá e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica and by Comitato Regionale di Ricerche Nucleari e di Struttura della Materia is also acknowledged.