Why charges go to the surface: a generalized Thomson problem
Soft Condensed Matter
2009-11-10 v2 Statistical Mechanics
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Abstract
We study a generalization of a Thomson problem of n particles confined to a sphere and interacting by a 1/r^g potential. It is found that for g \le 1 the electrostatic repulsion expels all the charges to the surface of the sphere. However for g>1 and n>n_c(g) occupation of the bulk becomes energetically favorable. It is curious to note that the Coulomb law lies exactly on the interface between these two regimes.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0302524,
title = {Why charges go to the surface: a generalized Thomson problem},
author = {Yan Levin and Jeferson J. Arenzon},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0302524},
year = {2009}
}