Casimir forces in a plasma: possible connections to Yukawa potentials

We present theoretical and numerical results for the screened Casimir effect between perfect metal surfaces in a plasma. We show how the Casimir effect in an electron-positron plasma can provide an important contribution to nuclear interactions. Our results suggest that there is a connection between Casimir forces and nucleon forces mediated by mesons. Correct nuclear energies and meson masses appear to emerge naturally from the screened Casimir-Lifshitz effect.Funding Agencies|Research Council of Norway [221469]; Department of Energy and Process Engineering (NTNU, Norway); Swedish Research Council [C0485101]; DFG [BU 1803/3-1]