title: Fluctuations of the Casimir-like force between two membrane inclusions.
abstract: Although Casimir forces are inseparable from their fluctuations, little is known about these fluctuations in soft matter systems. We use the membrane stress tensor to study the fluctuations of the membrane-mediated Casimir-like force. This method enables us to recover the Casimir force between two inclusions and to calculate its variance. We show that the Casimir force is dominated by its fluctuations. Furthermore, when the distance d between the inclusions is decreased from infinity, the variance of the Casimir force decreases as -1/d2. This distance dependence shares a common physical origin with the Casimir force itself.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes (MSC), Université Paris Diderot, Paris 7 and UMR CNRS 7057, 10 rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, F-75205 Paris Cedex 13, France.
authors.forename: Anne-Florence
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Bitbol
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Dommersnes
authors.forename: Jean-Baptiste
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Fournier
mesh_terms: D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008567:Membranes, Artificial