On the Casimir effect without cutoff

The formulation of the Casimir effect without cutoffs is discussed. Our derivation emphasizes the decisive role of the free-space electromagnetic energy density. The zero point energy arises as an energy per unit volume, i.e., as local (in x space) energy density. It is given by the vaccum expectation value of the free-space Hamiltonian density in the Fock representation corresponding to the non-trivial geometry. The two Fock representations corresponding to the system with and without plates are proved to be inequivalent.