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Welcome to Durham Research Online (DRO)

Durham Research Online (DRO) is the University’s Open Access repository for publications. The primary purpose of DRO is to provide open access to publications authored by staff and students affiliated with Durham University.

See our Policies page for further information.



Latest Additions

Casimir forces at the cutting edge (2015)
Book Chapter
Simpson, W., Leonhardt, U., Decca, R., & Buhmann, S. Y. (2015). Casimir forces at the cutting edge. In W. M. R. Simpson, & U. Leonhardt (Eds.), Forces of the Quantum Vacuum: an introduction to Casimir Physics (227-246). World Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814644761_0007

It would be a pity if you read this far, decided that it all made perfect sense, and put the book down, supposing that scientists have got the Casimir effect ‘pretty much figured out’. They haven't, and physics only thrives when people ask questions.... Read More about Casimir forces at the cutting edge.

Half-Baked Humeanism (2017)
Book Chapter
Simpson, W. M. R. (2017). Half-Baked Humeanism. In W. M. R. Simpson, R. C. Koons, & N. J. Teh (Eds.), Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science (123-145). New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315211626-7

Toby Handfield has advanced a subtle form of dispositionalism that purports to reconcile the concept of causal powers with broadly Humean convictions by dissolving the requirement for objectively modal relations between powers and their manifestation... Read More about Half-Baked Humeanism.

Exact solution for the Casimir stress in a spherically symmetric medium (2011)
Journal Article
Leonhardt, U., & Simpson, W. M. R. (2011). Exact solution for the Casimir stress in a spherically symmetric medium. Physical Review D, 84(8), Article 081701(R). https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.84.081701

We calculated the stress of the quantum vacuum, the Casimir stress, in a spherically symmetric medium, Maxwell’s fish eye, surrounded by a perfect mirror and derived an exact analytic solution. Our solution questions the idea that the Casimir force o... Read More about Exact solution for the Casimir stress in a spherically symmetric medium.

Casimir force in a compressive transformation medium (2013)
Journal Article
Simpson, W. M. R. (2013). Casimir force in a compressive transformation medium. Physical Review A, 88(6), Article 063852. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.88.063852

We consider an example of an idealized inhomogeneous metamaterial which, when introduced into a Casimir cavity, reduces the magnitude of the Casimir force. It has recently been argued, however, that Casimir-Lifshitz forces in inhomogeneous media are... Read More about Casimir force in a compressive transformation medium.