Casimir-Polder interaction of atoms with magnetodielectric bodies

A general theory of the Casimir-Polder interaction of single atoms with dispersing and absorbing magnetodielectric bodies is presented, which is based on QED in linear, causal media. Both ground-state and excited atoms are considered. Whereas the Casimir-Polder force acting on a ground-state atom can conveniently be derived from a perturbative calculation of the atom-field coupling energy, an atom in an excited state is subject to transient force components that can only be fully understood by a dynamical treatment based on the body-assisted vacuum Lorentz force. The results show that the Casimir-Polder force can be influenced by the body-induced broadening and shifting of atomic transitions — an effect that is not accounted for within lowest-order perturbation theory. The theory is used to study the Casimir-Polder force of a ground-state atom placed within a magnetodielectric multilayer system, with special emphasis on thick and thin plates as well as a planar cavity consisting of two thick plates. It is shown how the competing attractive and repulsive force components related to the electric and magnetic properties of the medium, respectively, can — for sufficiently strong magnetic properties — lead to the formation of potential walls and wells.     

Two-atom van der Waals interaction between polarizable/magnetizable atoms near magnetoelectric bodies

The van der Waals potential of two atoms in the presence of an arbitrary arrangement of dispersing and absorbing magnetoelectric bodies is studied. Starting from a polarizable atom placed within a given geometry, its interaction with a second polarizable/magnetizable atom is deduced from its Casimir-Polder interaction with a weakly polarizable/magnetizable test body. The general expressions for the van der Waals potential obtained thusly are illustrated by considering first the case of two atoms in free space, with special emphasis on the interaction between (i) two polarizable atoms and (ii) a polarizable and a magnetizable atom. Furthermore, the influence of magnetoelectric bodies on the van der Waals interaction is studied in detail for the example of two atoms placed near a perfectly reflecting plate or a magnetoelectric half space, respectively. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

The van der Waals energy of an atom near a carbon nanotube

Using a unified macroscopic QED formalism, an integral equation for the van der Waals energy of a two-level atomic system near a carbon nanotube is derived. The equation is valid for both strong and weak atom-vacuum field coupling. By solving it numerically, the inapplicability of weak coupling-based van der Waals interaction models in the close vicinity of the nanotube surface is demonstrated. It is also shown that encapsulation of doped atoms into the nanotube is energetically more favorable than their outside adsorption by the nanotube surface.     

Yang-Mills potentials and the van der Waals force between hadrons

The colour-induced magnetic dipole interaction between hadrons is discussed. Fermion motion in a gauge field obtained by solving the classical Yang-Mills equations is considered. It is shown that the spectrum of stationary fermion states is discrete and bound states are colourless. The long range asymptotic behaviour of the gauge potential results in the van der Waals interaction of hadrons.     

Moment of van der Waals forces between anisotropic bodies

We find the moment of the van der Waals forces between two anisotropic uniaxial thick plates separated by a thick gap filled with isotropic material. Errors which occurred in [2, 3] in a discussion of this effect are pointed out.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 21, No. 11, pp. 1637–1643, November, 1978.In conclusion, we thank V. L. Ginzburg, who brought the existence of the effect discussed in this article to the attention of the author.     

First-principles theory of van der Waals forces between macroscopic bodies

We present a first-principles method for the determination of the van der Waals interactions for a collection of finite-sized macroscopic bodies. The method is based on fluctuational electrodynamics and a rigorous multiple-scattering method for the electromagnetic field. As such, the method takes fully into account retardation, many-body, multipolar, and near-fields effects. By application of the method to the case of two metallic nanoparticles, we demonstrate the breakdown of the standard 1/r(2) distance law as the van der Waals force decays exponentially with distance when the nanoparticles are too close or too far apart.     

Perturbation calculations of rare-gas potentials near the van der Waals minimum

A perturbation method used previously to calculate rare-gas potentials for He₂ and Ne₂ is modified to handle the many contributions to the Coulomb and exchange energy for heavier atoms. The procedure involves a transformation to an equivalent orbital basis and the neglect of all except the largest overlap contributions to the energy. Potentials are obtained for homo- and heteronuclear pairs for the atoms He, Ne and Ar, and the results are compared with the best empirical potentials.     

A van der Waals free energy in electrolytes revisited

A system of three electrolytes separated by two parallel planes is considered. Each region is described by a dielectric constant and a Coulomb fluid in the Debye-Hückel regime. In their book Dispersion Forces, Mahanty and Ninham have given the van der Waals free energy of this system. We rederive this free energy by a different method, using linear response theory and the electrostatic Maxwell stress tensor for obtaining the dispersion force.     

van der Waals revisited

The van-der-Waals version of the second virial coefficient is not far from being exact if the model parameters are appropriately chosen. It is shown how the van-der-Waals resemblance originates from the interplay of thermal averaging and superposition of scattering phase shift contributions. The derivation of the two parameters from the quantum virial coefficient reveals a fermion-boson symmetry in non-ideal quantum gases. Numerical details are worked out for the Helium quantum gases.     

Non-Analyticity and the van der Waals Limit

We study the analyticity properties of the free energy f _γ (m) of the Kac model at points of first order phase transition, in the van der Waals limit γ↘0. We show that there exists an inverse temperature β ₀ and γ ₀>0 such that for all β≥β ₀ and for all γ∈(0,γ ₀), f _γ (m) has no analytic continuation along the path m↘m ^* (m ^* denotes spontaneous magnetization). The proof consists in studying high order derivatives of the pressure p _γ (h), which is related to the free energy f _γ (m) by a Legendre transform.     

二维范德瓦尔斯材料

1959年Richard Feynman在其著名的演讲中曾经提出一个问题：当选取最合适的单层来搭建层状结构时,我们可以实现什么？随着近年来对各种家族的单层材料的研究,我们正愈发接近问题的答案,并有望实现Feynman的梦想。     

Six-body van der Waals interactions

We report on the six-body van der Waals interactions within Rydberg atoms. Specifically, we focus on the octahedron case. The results are compared with previous calculations for two to five bodies' interactions. This research is useful for crystal structure in condensed matter physics, such as p-type doping in Silicon or other types of semiconductors. This research is also useful for studying big molecules in chemistry, chemical engineering, and other fields.     

Nonuniform van der Waals theory

The liquid-vapor interface of a confined fluid at the condensation phase transition is studied in a combined hydrostatic/mean-field limit of classical statistical mechanics. Rigorous and numerical results are presented. The limit accounts for strongly repulsive short-range forces in terms of local thermodynamics. Weak attractive longer-range ones, like gravitational or van der Waals forces, contribute a self-consistent mean potential. Although the limit is fluctuationfree, the interface is not a sharp Gibbs interface, but its structure is resolved over the range of the attractive potential. For a fluid of hard balls with –r ^–6 interactions the traditional condensation phase transition with critical point is exhibited in the grand ensemble: A vapor state coexists with a liquid state. Both states are quasiuniform well inside the container, but wall-induced inhomogeneities show up close to the boundary of the container. The condensation phase transition of the grand ensemble bridges a region of negative total compressibility in the canonical ensemble which contains canonically stable proper liquid-vapor interface solutions. Embedded in this region is a new, strictly canonical phase transition between a quasiuniform vapor state and a small droplet with extended vapor atmosphere. This canonical transition, in turn, bridges a region of negative total specific heat in the microanonical ensemble. That region contains subcooled vapor states as well as superheated very small droplets which are microcanonically stable.     

范德华力对双壁碳纳米管轴向压缩屈曲行为的影响

使用分子动力学方法研究几种不同半径尺寸的单壁碳纳米管组成的双壁碳管，预测了其初始稳定构型；分析了其自由弛豫阶段的特征；并模拟了它们在轴向压缩载荷作用下的屈曲行为；研究了不同层间距导致的范德华力变化对屈曲行为的影响.采用Tersoff-Brenner势描述单壁碳纳米管内原子间作用，Lennard-Jones势描述内外层间的范德华相互作用.计算结果表明：在通常意义下的双壁管间距(约0.34 nm)外还可以存在稳定的双壁碳管构型，并且这些新的稳定构型表现出了不同的力学性质. 关键词： 双壁碳纳米管 分子动力学 屈曲     

Asymptotics of the dispersion interaction: analytic benchmarks for van der Waals energy functionals

We show that the usual sum of R-6 contributions from elements separated by distance R can give qualitatively wrong results for the electromagnetically nonretarded van der Waals interaction between nonoverlapping bodies. This occurs for anisotropic nanostructures that have a zero electronic energy gap, such as metallic nanotubes or nanowires, and nanolayered systems including metals and graphene planes. In all these cases our analytic microscopic calculations give an interaction falling off with a power of separation different from the conventional value. We discuss implications for van der Waals energy functionals. The new nanotube interaction might be directly observable at submicron separations.     

Exact results for Casimir interactions between dielectric bodies: the weak-coupling or van der Waals limit

In earlier papers, we have applied multiple-scattering techniques to calculate Casimir forces due to scalar fields between different bodies described by delta function potentials. When the coupling to the potentials became weak, closed-form results were obtained. We simplify this weak-coupling technique and apply it to the case of tenuous dielectric bodies, in which case the method involves the summation of van der Waals (Casimir-Polder) interactions. Once again, exact results for finite bodies can be obtained. We present closed formulas describing the interaction between spheres, between cylinders, and between an infinite plate and a rectangular slab of finite size. For such a slab, we consider the torque acting on it and find that nontrivial equilibrium points can occur.