Friction and Radiative Heat Exchange in a System of Two Parallel Plates Moving Sideways : Levin-Polevoy-Rytov Theory Revisited

TL;DR

This paper revisits the Levin-Polevoy-Rytov theory to accurately describe radiative heat exchange and frictional forces between two parallel plates in lateral motion, confirming earlier results and revealing significantly higher friction forces in good metals.

Contribution

The study confirms the validity of the Levin-Polevoy-Rytov theory for lateral plate motion and provides new numerical insights into friction forces in metallic systems.

Findings

Friction force is 10^7 times higher than previous estimates for good metals.

Friction increases with metal conductivity.

The theory accurately describes heat exchange and friction in moving parallel plates.

Abstract

It is shown that the fundamental results obtained in the works by Levine, Polevoi, Rytov (1980) and Polevoi (1990), based on the fluctuation-electromagnetic theory by Levine and Rytov, adequately describe the rate of radiative heat exchange and the frictional force in a system of two parallel thick plates in relative lateral motion. A numerically calculated friction force for good metals and thin gaps turns out to be by a factor 107 higher than earlier obtained by Polevoi and increases with increasing conductivity of the metals.