Electrostatic fluctuations in soap films.
A field theory to describe electrostatic interactions in soap films, described by electric multilayers with a generalized thermodynamic surface-charging mechanism, is studied. In the limit where the electrostatic interactions are weak, this theory is exactly soluble. The theory incorporates in a consistent way, the surface-charging mechanism and the fluctuations in the electrostatic field that correspond to the zero-frequency component of the van der Waals force. It is shown that these terms lead to a Casimir-like attraction that can be sufficiently large to explain the transition between the common black film to a Newton black film.
IRSAMC, Laboratoire de Physique Quantique, Université Paul Sabatier, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 04, France. dean@irsamc.ups-tsle.fr
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Dean
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Horgan