Stable Suspension and Dispersion-Induced Transitions from Repulsive Casimir Forces Between Fluid-Separated Eccentric Cylinders

Journal Article · Fri Nov 07 00:00:00 EST 2008 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.101.190404· OSTI ID:21179878

Rodriguez, Alejandro W; Joannopoulos, J D ^[1]; Munday, J N ^[2]; Capasso, Federico ^[3]; Dalvit, Diego A. R. ^[4]; Johnson, Steven G ^[5]

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1. Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)
2. Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)
3. School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)
4. Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
5. Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)

We numerically demonstrate a stable mechanical suspension of a silica cylinder within a metallic cylinder separated by ethanol, via a repulsive Casimir force between the silica and the metal. We investigate cylinders with both circular and square cross sections, and show that the latter exhibit a stable orientation as well as a stable position, via a method to compute Casimir torques for finite objects. Furthermore, the stable orientation of the square cylinder undergoes a 45 deg. transition as the separation length scale is varied, which is explained as a consequence of material dispersion.

• OSTI ID: 21179878
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 101, Issue 19; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.190404; (c) 2008 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CASIMIR EFFECT
CROSS SECTIONS
CYLINDERS
ETHANOL
METALS
SILICA
SUSPENSIONS
TORQUE