Resource Letter VWCPF-1: van der Waals and Casimir-Polder forces

This Resource Letter provides a guide to the literature on van der Waals and Casimir-Polder forces. Journal articles, books, and other documents are cited on the following topics: Nonretarded or van der Waals forces, retarded dispersion forces or Casimir-Polder forces between atoms or molecules, Casimir-Polder forces between a molecule and a dielectric or conducting body, the summation of Casimir-Polder forces as leading to the Casimir and Lifshitz forces between conducting and dielectric bodies, Casimir friction, applications to nanotechnology, the nature of the quantum vacuum, and experimental tests of the theory of Casimir and Casimir-Polder and van der Waals forces. (C) 2011 American Association of Physics Teachers. [DOI: 10.1119/1.3573976]