title: Stable suspension and dispersion-induced transitions from repulsive Casimir forces between fluid-separated eccentric cylinders.
abstract: We numerically demonstrate a stable mechanical suspension of a silica cylinder within a metallic cylinder separated by ethanol, via a repulsive Casimir force between the silica and the metal. We investigate cylinders with both circular and square cross sections, and show that the latter exhibit a stable orientation as well as a stable position, via a method to compute Casimir torques for finite objects. Furthermore, the stable orientation of the square cylinder undergoes a 45 degrees transition as the separation length scale is varied, which is explained as a consequence of material dispersion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Alejandro W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Munday
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Joannopoulos
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Capasso
authors.forename: Diego A R
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Dalvit
authors.forename: Steven G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Johnson