[NewCandle] that which reacteth not and is clear

[Keith Nagel]

Nick writes:
>where I tend to fall short in brainpower is the
>understanding of how different surface geometries
>alter the Casimir force.

I'm no mathematician, but I can point you in the
necessary direction.

http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/quant-ph/0408124

Perhaps it can help both you and Horace with your work.
I came across this paper when I was making a habit
of scanning all the new LANL papers every morning
over breakfast. 

Correct me if I am mistaken, but why not oxidize
the Al spheres to form a sapphire coating of the
requisite thickness, and just pile them up in the jar? 
Sapphire is good up to about 220 nm as shown here.

http://www.korth.de/eng/503728952d091450d/503728952d09d151e.htm

K.