Lateral Casimir force on a rotating particle near a planar surface

TL;DR

This paper investigates a novel lateral Casimir force acting on a rotating particle near a planar surface, revealing how symmetry breaking due to rotation induces a force that can be controlled by adjusting the particle-surface distance.

Contribution

It introduces a new mechanism for lateral Casimir force generation on a rotating particle near a planar surface, expanding understanding beyond corrugated surface scenarios.

Findings

The lateral force depends on the particle's rotation and system geometry.

The force direction can be controlled by changing the particle-surface distance.

Analytical expressions for the force are derived within fluctuational electrodynamics.

Abstract

We study the lateral Casimir force experienced by a particle that rotates near a planar surface. The origin of this force lies in the symmetry breaking induced by the particle rotation in the vacuum and thermal fluctuations of its dipole moment, and, therefore, in contrast to lateral Casimir forces previously described in the literature for corrugated surfaces, it exists despite the translational invariance of the planar surface. Working within the framework of fluctuational electrodynamics, we derive analytical expressions for the lateral force and analyze its dependence on the geometrical and material properties of the system. In particular, we show that the direction of the force can be controlled by adjusting the particle-surface distance, which may be exploited as a new mechanism to manipulate nanoscale objects.