Casimir micro-sphere diclusters and three-body effects in fluids

TL;DR

This paper investigates the stability of Casimir-induced micro-sphere diclusters in fluids, considering real-world effects like temperature and Brownian motion, and suggests layered micro-spheres as feasible experimental systems.

Contribution

It extends previous theoretical predictions by analyzing practical experimental conditions and identifies layered micro-spheres as suitable candidates for observing Casimir diclusters.

Findings

Brownian motion limits dicluster stability.

Layered micro-spheres enhance experimental feasibility.

Three-body effects influence stability predictions.

Abstract

Our previous article [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 060401 (2010)] predicted that Casimir forces induced by the material-dispersion properties of certain dielectrics can give rise to stable configurations of objects. This phenomenon was illustrated via a dicluster configuration of non-touching objects consisting of two spheres immersed in a fluid and suspended against gravity above a plate. Here, we examine these predictions from the perspective of a practical experiment and consider the influence of non-additive, three-body, and nonzero-temperature effects on the stability of the two spheres. We conclude that the presence of Brownian motion reduces the set of experimentally realizable silicon/teflon spherical diclusters to those consisting of layered micro-spheres, such as the hollow- core (spherical shells) considered here.