Hendrik Casimir

Biography

Born in The Hague. Studied at Leiden University, where he worked with Paul Ehrenfest. Then conducted research at the Philips laboratory in Eindhoven, where he worked most of his career. Collaborated with Niels Bohr, discussing the nature of van der Waals forces. Served as president of the European Physical Society. Awarded the Matteucci Medal and other honors.

Key discoveries

• Predicted the Casimir effect (1948) — attraction between conducting plates in vacuum due to the difference in zero-point energy of the electromagnetic field.
• Together with Dirk Polder described the Casimir–Polder force between an atom and a conducting surface.
• Developed the foundations of the thermodynamics of superconductors and Casimir physics.