"The Casimir effect is a small attractive force which acts between two close parallel uncharged conducting plates.  It is due to quantum vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field…," from "What is the Casimir Effect?" by Philip Gibbs[1].

The equation for calculating the attractive Casimir force between two plates is shown below.  We chose the area A separated by a quantum distance L to be the length and area for quantum measurement analysis purposes.

$$L = {\lambda _C}$$

$$A = {\lambda _C}^2$$

$$\frac{{\pi  \cdot h \cdot c}}{{480 \cdot {L^4}}}A = 2.208 \times {10^{ - 4}}newton$$

The Dutch physicist Hendrick Casimir developed the form of the above equation in 1948.  In 1996, Steven Lamoreaux conducted an experiment that verified the Casimir effect equation to within 5%[2].

Looking at Casimir's equation, we see the h·c in the numerator.  In the Aether Physics Model, h·c is equal to the unit of the photon.

"Casimir realised that between two plates, only those virtual photons whose wavelengths fit a whole number of times into the gap should be counted when calculating the vacuum energy," Gibbs said.

It is no error that the equation for the Casimir Effect contains the APM unit for the photon in the numerator.  But as will be seen shortly, the so-called "virtual photons" are mathematically shown to be the result of the strong charge of the electron being acted upon by the strong force.

Using the Aether Physics Model, let us modify Casimir’s equation by replacing h·c with the phtn unit and express the force in units of forc.

$$\frac{{\pi  \cdot phtn \cdot A}}{{480 \cdot {L^4}}} = 6.545 \times {10^{ - 3}}forc$$

Because we have chosen the quantum distance for L and the quantum distance squared for A, the numerical terms produce an identity.

$$\frac{\pi }{{480}} = 6.545 \times {10^{ - 3}}$$

The numerical π divided by 480 is too close to 1/16π²=6.333×10^-3 to ignore.  Could it be that the Casimir equation was calculated or inferred incorrectly?  Perhaps it should be:

$$\frac{{phtn \cdot A}}{{16{\pi ^2} \cdot {L^4}}} = 6.333 \times {10^{ - 3}}forc$$

A comparison of the numerical term in the original Casimir equation to the assumed 16π² numerical term gives:

$$\frac{{6.545}}{{6.333}} = 1.033$$

The Casimir value is just 3.3% greater than the value.  In 1996 Steven Lamoreaux empirically measured the Casimir Effect to within 5% of the Casimir equation.  Therefore, the assumed 16π² value could be correct.

What's the point of this exercise? 16π² is the geometrical constant of the Aether in the Aether Physics Model.  According to an article about the Casimir effect research of U. Mohideen and Anushree Roy, published in the Physical Review[3],

“...the most puzzling aspect of the theory is that the [Casimir] force depends on geometry: If the plates are replaced by hemispherical shells, the force is repulsive. Spherical surfaces somehow "enhance" the number of virtual photons."

The shape of 16π² is a double loxodrome and it is equal to the spherical constant squared.  As shown in the neutron equation for the neutrino (page 184), Aether folds according to its spherical geometry in order to trap the angular momentum known in the Standard Model as the anti-neutrino.

Of further interest is that phtn/16π² is equal to the strong charge of the electron times Coulomb's constant.

$$\frac{{phtn}}{{16{\pi ^2}}} = {k_C} \cdot {e_{emax}}^2$$

So the Casimir equation can transpose as:

$${k_C}\frac{{{e_{emax}}^2 \cdot A}}{{{L^4}}} = 6.333 \times {10^{ - 3}}forc$$

And so it appears that the Casimir effect is the result of the electron strong charge of the electrons in the metal plates affecting each other through a form of Coulomb's law.  But Lamoreaux clearly states in his paper, “There was no evidence for a 1/a² force in any of the data….”¹³⁷ But even though the force is not an inverse square force, it does increase rapidly with the closer distances, as he writes, “The Casimir force is nonlinear and increases rapidly at distances less than 0.5 μm.”  This is entirely consistent with the strong force law as it increases according to the inverse square law, but at a rate 16π² times sharper than the electrostatic force.

Taking the area and lengths to be the quantum length, the adjusted Casimir equation transposes and simplifies as the Aether Physics Model strong force equation for the electron:

$${A_u}\frac{{{e_{emax}} \cdot {e_{emax}}}}{{{\lambda _C}^2}} = forc$$

So the success of the Casimir effect experiments is evidence of the existence of the strong charge of the electron, as well as the electron strong force law.  The experiments also provide evidence to support the Aether Physics Model’s assertion that the photon is equal to the angular momentum of the electron times the speed of light.

To calculate the force between two Casimir plates, measure the strong charge of each plate, divide by the distance between them squared, and multiply by the Aether constant.  The strong charge is easy to calculate, because it is always proportional to the mass.  In the Casimir effect experiment, the mass is that of the free electrons placed on each plate.

Another observation about Lamoreaux’s experiment:

With the Casimir plates separated but externally shorted together, there was an apparent shockingly large potential of 430 mV; there are roughly 40 separate electrical connections in this loop and a potential this large is consistent with what is expected for the various metallic contacts.  This potential was easily canceled by setting an applied voltage between the plates to give a minimum dV; this applied voltage was taken as “zero” in regard to the calibration.

The “apparent shockingly large potential of 430 mV” seemed anomalous because only 300mV had applied to the plates.  Instead of interpreting the increased potential as an artifact of the Casimir effect, Lamoreaux sought to dismiss it as the result of various metallic contacts.  Lamoreaux did not explain exactly what physical principle he thought it was that produced the increased potential.  It seems he would have been careful enough to avoid thermoelectric effects, so it is unclear just what process he thought caused the extra 130mV of potential across shorted plates.

An alternative to the “40 separate electrical connections” explanation is that photons emerged from the Aether between the plates.  The angular momentum for the photons would have come from between the Aether units (dark matter) as described in the neutrino section (page 186), thus there is conservation of angular momentum.

It may have been that the short between the plates provided a resistance load.  That may have converted the photons into electrons via the photoelectric effect, in which case the electrons flowed in order to balance the opposite potentials of the plates.

[1] The Physics and Relativity FAQ, as a collection, is © 1992--2002 by Scott Chase, Michael Weiss, Philip Gibbs, Chris Hillman, and Nathan Urban.  http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Quantum/casimir.html

[2] Lamoreaux, Steven K., Demonstration of the Casimir Force in the 0.6 to 6 mm Range (Physical Review Letters, VOLUME 78, NUMBER 1, 1996)

[3] The Force of Empty Space (Focus, Physical Review, 1998) http://focus.aps.org/story/v2/st28