Casimir effect
(redirected from Casimir vacuum)Also found in: Encyclopedia.
Cas·i·mir effect
(kăz′ə-mîr′)n.
The effect of a net attractive force between objects in a vacuum, caused by the reduction of vacuum pressure in the space between the objects, where the wavelengths of vacuum fluctuations are more limited than in the space around the objects.
[After Hendrik Casimir (1909-2000), Dutch physicist who predicted its existence in collaboration with Dirk Polder (1919-2001), Dutch physicist.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.