Path-integral formulation of Casimir effects in supersymmetric quantum electrodynamics

The path-integral method of calculating the Casimir energy between two parallel conducting plates is developed within the framework of supersymmetric quantum electrodynamics at vanishing temperature as well as at finite temperature. The choice of the suitable boundary condition for the photino on the plates is argued and the physically acceptable condition is adopted which eventually breaks the supersymmetry. The photino mass term is introduced in the Lagrangian and the photino mass dependence of the Casimir energy and pressure is fully investigated.