Abstract
The Casimir force between macroscopic bodies is well understood, but not the Casimir stress inside bodies. Suppose empty space or a uniform medium meets a soft wall where the refractive index is continuous but its derivative jumps. For this situation we predict a characteristic power law for the stress inside the soft wall and close to its edges. Our result shows that such edges are not tolerated in the aggregation of liquids at surfaces, regardless whether the liquid is attracted or repelled.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 205418 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Physical Review B |
| Volume | 96 |
| Issue number | 20 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 10 Nov 2017 |
Funding
We thank Y. Drori, M. Fink, and E. Shahmoon for stimulating discussions. I.G. is grateful to the Azrieli Foundation for the award of an Azrieli Fellowship. Our work was also supported by the European Research Council and the Israel Science Foundation, a research grant from Louis Rosenmayer and from J. Nathan, and the M. B. Koffler Professorial Chair.