casimir-tools 0.1.1

Open-source toolkit for Lifshitz-Casimir force engineering in anisotropic and chiral dielectric heterostructures

casimir-tools

Open-source Python toolkit for Lifshitz-Casimir force engineering in anisotropic and chiral dielectric heterostructures.

Developed as part of the AI-driven Casimir Stiction Suppression project (KEC 2026, SERB CRG).

Installation

pip install casimir-tools

Quick Start

from casimir_tools import casimir_energy, casimir_energy_chiral, MATERIALS

# Standard Lifshitz energy: Te | vacuum | WTe2 at 10 nm
te   = MATERIALS["Te"]
wte2 = MATERIALS["WTe2_hex"]

E = casimir_energy(te["eps_static"], wte2["eps_static"], d=10e-9)
print(f"E = {E*1e3:.4f} mJ/m²")   # ~ -0.20 mJ/m²

# With chiral correction κ = 0.7 → near-zero Casimir
E_chiral = casimir_energy_chiral(te["eps_static"], wte2["eps_static"],
                                  d=10e-9, kappa=0.7)
print(f"E_chiral = {E_chiral*1e3:.4f} mJ/m²")

# Finite temperature (T = 300 K, Matsubara summation)
from casimir_tools import casimir_energy_finite_T
E_300K = casimir_energy_finite_T(te["eps_static"], wte2["eps_static"],
                                  d=10e-9, T=300.0)

# Anisotropic uniaxial Lifshitz (Te crystal tensor)
from casimir_tools import casimir_energy_aniso
E_aniso = casimir_energy_aniso(te["eps_perp"], te["eps_par"],
                                wte2["eps_perp"], wte2["eps_par"],
                                d=10e-9)

# 2-oscillator Sellmeier model
from casimir_tools import casimir_energy_2osc, TE_2OSC, WTE2_2OSC
E_2osc = casimir_energy_2osc(**TE_2OSC, **{f"{k}_2": v for k, v in WTE2_2OSC.items()},
                               d=10e-9)

Physics

The library implements the Lifshitz (1956) formula for Casimir energy between two planar dielectric half-spaces:

E(d) = (ħ/2π²c²) ∫₀^∞ ξ² dξ ∫₁^∞ p dp
         × Σ_pol ln(1 − r₁^pol r₂^pol e^{−2pξd/c})

Extensions:

• Chiral correction (Zhao et al. 2009): E = E_Lifshitz + κ² × δE
• Uniaxial anisotropy (Bimonte et al. 2009): separate ε_⊥, ε_∥ Fresnel coefficients
• Finite temperature (Lifshitz/Pitaevskii): Matsubara sum at arbitrary T
• 2-oscillator Sellmeier: resolves IR phonon + UV electronic contributions

Citation

@software{sevesh2026casimir,
  author  = {Sevesh SS},
  title   = {casimir-tools: Lifshitz-Casimir Force Engineering Toolkit},
  year    = {2026},
  url     = {https://github.com/seveshss/casimir-tools},
  version = {0.1.0},
}

License

MIT © Sevesh SS, KEC 2026