Entropy of the Casimir effect between real metal plates

We first derive the zero-and-finite-temperature dispersion-forces in terms of changes in the energy of the electromagnetic normal modes of the system. We then use this to evaluate the entropy of the electromagnetic normal modes for the Casimir system consisting of two metal plates. We demonstrate that this entropy obeys the Nernst heat theorem. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.