In reply to francis 's message of Tue, 3 May 2011 06:09:29 -0400: Hi, [snip] >Scott and I have collaborated and communicated at length regarding a Casimir >theory based on relativistic contraction of the longer vacuum wavelengths >which still appear full length to an observer inside the cavity instead of >the present theory where the longerwavelengths are simply upshifted to >higher frequency inside the cavity.
As I understand it, they are not normally upshifted. They are excluded altogether, because they are too long to fit in the cavity. It's precisely because they are excluded that they press on the outside, but not on the inside walls of the cavity, hence producing a pressure that pushes the walls together. Only the wavelengths greater than the cavity dimensions are responsible for this, and since these represent but a minute fraction of the total, the force is very small, until the walls get very close together. That's because as they approach one another, the excluded wavelengths get shorter and shorter, representing an ever increasing amount of vacuum energy. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/Project.html
