On the zero-point energy of elliptic-cyliindrical and spheroidal boundaries : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theoretical Physics at Massey University, New Zealand

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dc.contributor.authorKitson, Adrian Robert
dc.date.accessioned2009-10-05T00:22:07Z
dc.date.availableNO_RESTRICTIONen_US
dc.date.available2009-10-05T00:22:07Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.description.abstractZero-point energy is the energy of the vacuum. Disturbing the vacuum results in a change in the zero-point energy. In 1948, Casimir considered the change in the zeropoint energy when the vacuumis disturbed by two parallelmetal plates. The plates disturb the vacuum by restricting the quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. Casimir found that the change in the zero-point energy implies that the plates are attracted to each other. With the recent advances made in the experimental verification of this remarkable result, theoretical interest has been rekindled. In addition to the original parallel plate configuration, several other boundaries have been studied. In this thesis, two novel boundaries are considered: elliptic-cylindrical and spheroidal. The results for these boundaries lead to the conjecture that zero-point energy does not change for small deformations of the boundary that preserve volume. Assuming the conjecture, it is shown that zero-point energy plays a stabilizing role in quantum chromodynamics, the leading theory of the strong interaction.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10179/1016
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMassey Universityen_US
dc.rightsThe Authoren_US
dc.subjectZero-point energyen_US
dc.subjectVacuumen_US
dc.subjectQuantum chromodynamicsen_US
dc.subject.otherFields of Research::240000 Physical Sciences::240200 Theoretical and Condensed Matter Physics::240201 Theoretical physicsen_US
dc.titleOn the zero-point energy of elliptic-cyliindrical and spheroidal boundaries : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theoretical Physics at Massey University, New Zealanden_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
massey.contributor.authorKitson, Adrian Robert
thesis.degree.disciplineTheoretical Physicsen_US
thesis.degree.grantorMassey Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.)en_US
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