  We evaluate the quantum correlators associated with the Maxwell field vacuum
distorted by the presence of plane parallel material surfaces. Regularization
is performed through the generalized zeta funtion technique. Results are
applied to a local analysis of the atractive and repulsive Casimir effect
through Maxwell stress tensor. Surface divergences are shown to cancel out when
stresses on both sides of the material surface are taken into account. Since an
atom can be considered as a probe of the local distortion of the quantum
vacuum, Casimir-Polder interactions between atoms and material surfaces are
also considered.
