title: Binding of similarly charged plates with counterions only.
abstract: Similarly and highly charged plates in the presence of multivalent counterions attract each other and form electrostatically bound states. Using Monte-Carlo simulations, we obtain the interplate pressure in the global parameter space. The equilibrium plate separation, where the pressure changes from attractive to repulsive, exhibits a novel unbinding transition. A systematic and asymptotically exact strong-coupling field theory yields the bound state from a competition between counterion entropy and electrostatic attraction, in agreement with simple scaling arguments and simulations.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Netz