Atoms near magnetodielectric bodies: van der Waals energy and the Casimir-Polder force

Based on macroscopic QED in linear, causal media, a consistent theory for the Casimir-Polder force acting on an atom positioned near dispersing and absorbing magnetodielectric bodies is presented. The perturbative result for the van der Waals energy is shown to exhibit interesting new features in the presence of magnetodielectric bodies. To go beyond perturbation theory, we start with the center-of-mass equation of motion and derive a dynamical expression for the Casimir-Polder force acting on an atom prepared in an arbitrary electronic state. For a nondriven atom in the weak coupling regime, the force as a function of time is shown to be a superposition of force components that are related to the electronic density matrix elements at a chosen time. These force components depend on the position-dependent polarizability of the atom, which correctly accounts for the body-induced level shifts and broadenings.