ZP
OWER
C
ORPORATION
PAGE OF
352
ZERO POINT ENERGY need to bethought through. There are papers available that discuss these effects, such as G. Barton, "Quantum mechanics of charged particles near a plasma surface" J. Phys. A, 601 (1977), and for particles between two mirrors in G. Barton, Proc. Roy. Sec. (London) A, 251 (1970), and an update with applications to a neutral atom in Proc. Poy. Sec. (London) A,
141 (1987). All of these need to be investigated by a competent theorist before much time is spent on designing experiments.
I suspect, however, that these papers will either produce an "effective mass" or an "effective mass anisotropy" that comes about due to the interaction of the charges in the i
P
S under consideration with the charges in the plasma or mirrors. These are not fundamental changes in the
inertial rest mass of the atom, just an "effective mass" induced by the coupling of the atom to its surroundings. I would suspect that these nonsymmetric effects, just like the non-symmetric effects in
the original Drever experiment, will not cause a change in the magnetic level spacing. This, however, needs to be proven.
Applying Free Precession To A Casimir Anisotropy Experiment The Drever measurement was made by using a nuclear magnetic free precession technique on a bottle of water
containing lithium nitrate, which gave better relaxation times than other compounds. The frequency of precession in the earth's magnetic field was 800 Hz and the decay time of the signal was 3.7 s. In practice, the signal was weak and it was necessary to use 2.5 liters of sample to obtain an adequate signal-to-noise ratio. It is obvious that much thought and work needs to be done to convert this experiment into one that can be done within the confines of two closely spaced conducting plates.
Share with your friends: 
