Editing Casimir effect (section)

== History ==
[[Netherlands|Dutch]] physicists Hendrik Casimir and [[Dirk Polder]] at [[Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium|Philips Research Labs]] proposed the existence of a force between two polarizable atoms and between such an atom and a conducting plate in 1947;<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Casimir|first1=H. B. G.|author-link=Hendrik Casimir|last2=Polder|first2=D.|author-link2=Dirk Polder|date=1948-02-15|title=The Influence of Retardation on the London–van der Waals Forces|journal=[[Physical Review]]|language=en|volume=73|issue=4|pages=360–372|doi=10.1103/PhysRev.73.360|bibcode=1948PhRv...73..360C|issn=0031-899X}}</ref> this special form is called the Casimir–Polder force. After a conversation with [[Niels Bohr]], who suggested it had something to do with zero-point energy, Casimir alone formulated the theory predicting a force between neutral conducting plates in 1948.<ref name=":1" /> This latter phenomenon is called the Casimir effect.

Predictions of the force were later extended to finite-conductivity metals and dielectrics, while later calculations considered more general geometries. Experiments before 1997 observed the force qualitatively, and indirect validation of the predicted Casimir energy was made by measuring the thickness of [[liquid helium]] films. Finally, in 1997 Lamoreaux's direct experiment quantitatively measured the force to within 5% of the value predicted by the theory.<ref name=Lamoureaux1997 /> Subsequent experiments approached an accuracy of a few percent.