Issue 6, 2017

Casimir effect between pinned particles in two-dimensional jammed systems

Abstract

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 systems. Here we show the existence of Casimir-like forces between two pinned particles immersed in two-dimensional systems near the jamming transition. We observe two components to the total force: a short-ranged, depletion force and a long-ranged, repulsive Casimir-like force. The Casimir-like force dominates as the jamming transition is approached, and when the pinned particles are much larger than the ambient jammed particles. We show that this repulsive force arises due to a clustering of particles with strong contact forces around the perimeter of the pinned particles. As the separation between the pinned particles decreases, a region of high-pressure develops between them, leading to a net repulsive force.

Graphical abstract: Casimir effect between pinned particles in two-dimensional jammed systems

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Sep 2016
Accepted
06 Jan 2017
First published
10 Jan 2017

Soft Matter, 2017,13, 1142-1155

Casimir effect between pinned particles in two-dimensional jammed systems

J. Liétor-Santos and J. C. Burton, Soft Matter, 2017, 13, 1142 DOI: 10.1039/C6SM02072K

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