  When the vacuum is partitioned by material boundaries with arbitrary shape,
one can define the zero-point energy and the free energy of the electromagnetic
waves in it: this can be done, independently of the nature of the boundaries,
in the limit that they become perfect conductors, provided their curvature is
finite. The first examples we consider are Casimir's original configuration of
parallel plates, and the experimental situation of a sphere in front of a
plate. For arbitrary geometries, we give an explicit expression for the
zero-point energy and the free energy in terms of an integral kernel acting on
the boundaries; it can be expanded in a convergent series interpreted as a
succession of an even number of scatterings of a wave. The quantum and thermal
fluctuations of vacuum then appear as a purely geometric property. The Casimir
effect thus defined exists only owing to the electromagnetic nature of the
field. It does not exist for thin foils with sharp folds, but Casimir forces
between solid wedges are finite. We work out various applications: low
temperature, high temperature where wrinkling constraints appear, stability of
a plane foil, transfer of energy from one side of a curved boundary to the
other, forces between distant conductors, special shapes (parallel plates,
sphere, cylinder, honeycomb).
