title: Force between two spherical inclusions in a nonlinear host medium
abstract: In an attempt to investigate the effect of nonlinear characteristics on particle interactions, a self-consistent mean-field theory in combination with a multiple image method has been employed to compute the interparticle force. Taking the nonlinearity of the host medium into account, the interparticle force exhibits a nonmonotonic behavior as the applied electric field is increased. We show that the interparticle force increases initially at low fields, goes through a maximum at an optimal electric field, then decreases with increasing field, and vanishes at a critical electric field at which the effective dielectric contrast between the host and the inclusions becomes zero. The influence of a larger volume fraction of inclusions on the interparticle force is also investigated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Suzhou University, China.
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Li