Related papers: Tunable critical Casimir forces counteract Casimir…
The Casimir force, which results from the confinement of the quantum mechanical zero-point fluctuations of the electromagnetic fields, has received significant attention in recent years for its effect on micro- and nano-scale mechanical…
Critical Casimir forces emerge between objects, such as colloidal particles, whenever their surfaces spatially confine the fluctuations of the order parameter of a critical liquid used as a solvent. These forces act at short but…
The Casimir-Lifshitz interaction, a long-range force that arises between solids and molecules due to quantum fluctuations in electromagnetic fields, has been widely studied in solid-state physics. The degree of polarization in this…
We discuss recent experimental and theoretical results on the Casimir force between real material bodies made of different materials. Special attention is paid to calculations of the normal Casimir force acting perpendicular to the surface…
The manipulation of microscopic objects requires precise and controllable forces and torques. Recent advances have led to the use of critical Casimir forces as a powerful tool, which can be finely tuned through the temperature of the…
The Casimir effect in quantum electrodynamics (QED) is perhaps the best-known example of fluctuation-induced long-ranged force acting on objects (conducting plates) immersed in a fluctuating medium (quantum electromagnetic field in vacuum).…
If a fluctuating medium is confined, the ensuing perturbation of its fluctuation spectrum generates Casimir-like effective forces acting on its confining surfaces. Near a continuous phase transition of such a medium the corresponding order…
In soft and condensed matter physics, effective interactions often emerge as a result of the spatial confinement of a fluctuating field. For instance, microscopic particles in a binary liquid mixture are subject to critical Casimir forces…
Casimir-type forces, such as those between two neutral conducting plates, or between a sphere, atom or molecule and a plate have been widely studied and are becoming of increasing significance, for example, in nanotechnology. A key…
Quantum and thermal fluctuations are fundamental to a plethora of phenomena within quantum optics, including the Casimir effect that acts between closely separated surfaces typically found in MEMS and NEMS devices. Particularly promising…
The critical Casimir effect provides a thermodynamic analogue of the well-known quantum mechanical Casimir effect. It acts between two surfaces immersed in a critical binary liquid mixture, and results from the confinement of concentration…
Casimir effect is the attractive force which acts between two plane parallel, closely spaced, uncharged, metallic plates in vacuum. This phenomenon was predicted theoretically in 1948 and reliably investigated experimentally only in recent…
We experimentally demonstrate that critical Casimir forces in colloidal systems can be continuously tuned by the choice of boundary conditions. The interaction potential of a colloidal particle in a mixture of water and 2,6-lutidine has…
Among the various kinds of effective forces in soft matter, the spatial range and the direction of the so-called critical Casimir force - which is generated by the enhanced thermal fluctuations close to a continuous phase transition - can…
The Casimir effect arises when long-ranged fluctuations are geometrically confined between two surfaces, leading to a macroscopic force. Traditionally, these forces have been observed in quantum systems and near critical points in classical…
Critical Casimir forces can play an important role for applications in nano-science and nanotechnology, owing to their piconewton strength, nanometric action range, fine tunability as a function of temperature, and exquisite dependence on…
The physical origin of the Casimir force is connected with the existence of zero-point and thermal fluctuations. The Casimir effect is very general and finds applications in various fields of physics. This review is limited to the rapid…
There is an attractive Casimir-Lifshitz force between two silica surfaces in a liquid (bromobenze or toluene). We demonstrate that adding an ultrathin (5-50{\AA}) metallic nanocoating to one of the surfaces results in repulsive…
We uncover a novel physical mechanism that enables a switch between attractive and repulsive Casimir forces when a Teflon surface interacts with a new form of quantum material (i.e., gapped metal) surface across different liquid media. We…
We review recent advances in the theoretical, numerical, and experimental studies of critical Casimir forces in soft matter, with particular emphasis on their relevance for the structures of colloidal suspensions and on their dynamics.…