Stable suspension and dispersion-induced transitions from repulsive Casimir forces between fluid-separated eccentric cylinders.
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.
Rodriguez
Alejandro W
AW
Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Munday
J N
JN
Joannopoulos
J D
JD
Capasso
Federico
F
Dalvit
Diego A R
DA
Johnson
Steven G
SG