Theory of noncontact friction for atom-surface interactions
The noncontact (van der Waals) friction is an interesting physical effect, which has been the subject of controversial scientific discussion. The direct friction term due to the thermal fluctuations of the electromagnetic field leads to a friction force proportional to 1/Z5 (where Z is the atom-wall...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
18 August 2016
|
| In: |
Physical review
Year: 2016, Volume: 94, Issue: 2 |
| ISSN: | 2469-9934 |
| DOI: | 10.1103/PhysRevA.94.022510 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.94.022510 Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.94.022510 
|
| Author Notes: | U.D. Jentschura, M. Janke, and M. DeKieviet |
| Summary: | The noncontact (van der Waals) friction is an interesting physical effect, which has been the subject of controversial scientific discussion. The direct friction term due to the thermal fluctuations of the electromagnetic field leads to a friction force proportional to 1/Z5 (where Z is the atom-wall distance). The backaction friction term takes into account the feedback of thermal fluctuations of the atomic dipole moment onto the motion of the atom and scales as 1/Z8. We investigate noncontact friction effects for the interactions of hydrogen, ground-state helium, and metastable helium atoms with α-quartz (SiO2), gold (Au), and calcium difluorite (CaF2). We find that the backaction term dominates over the direct term induced by the thermal electromagnetic fluctuations inside the material, over wide distance ranges. The friction coefficients obtained for gold are smaller than those for SiO2 and CaF2 by several orders of magnitude. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Gesehen am 06.05.2020 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 2469-9934 |
| DOI: | 10.1103/PhysRevA.94.022510 |