Lifshitz interaction between dielectric bodies of arbitrary geometry.

A formulation is developed for the calculation of the electromagnetic-fluctuation forces for dielectric objects of arbitrary geometry at small separations, as a perturbative expansion in the dielectric contrast. The resulting Lifshitz energy automatically takes on the form of a series expansion of t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Golestanian, R
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2005
Description
Summary:A formulation is developed for the calculation of the electromagnetic-fluctuation forces for dielectric objects of arbitrary geometry at small separations, as a perturbative expansion in the dielectric contrast. The resulting Lifshitz energy automatically takes on the form of a series expansion of the different many-body contributions. The formulation has the advantage that the divergent contributions can be readily determined and subtracted off, and thus makes a convenient scheme for realistic numerical calculations, which could be useful in designing nanoscale mechanical devices.