Casimir friction: relative motion more generally

The Reality of Casimir Friction

For more than 35 years theorists have studied quantum or Casimir friction, which occurs when two smooth bodies move transversely to each other, experiencing a frictional dissipative force due to quantum electromagnetic fluctuations, which break time-reversal symmetry. These forces are typically very small, unless the bodies are nearly touching, and consequently such effects have never been obse...

Casimir Friction between Dense Polarizable Media

The present paper—a continuation of our recent series of papers on Casimir friction for a pair of particles at low relative particle velocity—extends the analysis, so as to include dense media. The situation becomes, in this case, more complex, due to induced dipolar correlations, both within planes and between planes. We show that the structure of the problem can be simplified by regarding the...

Vitamins are more Funky than Casimir thought.

Introduction In 2012 we celebrate the centenary of Dr Casimir Funk’s discovery of the 'vitamine'. Funk was the first to suggest the existence of a family of organic substances that are essential for life, which the world now takes for granted. He was thus the godfather of the vitamin movement. Funk conceived the concept of “vital amines”; essential nutrients with a specific action, requiring on...

Diatom bionanotribology--biological surfaces in relative motion: their design, friction, adhesion, lubrication and wear.

Tribology is the branch of engineering that deals with the interaction of surfaces in relative motion (as in bearings or gears): their design, friction, adhesion, lubrication and wear. Continuous miniaturization of technological devices like hard disc drives and biosensors increases the necessity for the fundamental understanding of tribological phenomena at the micro- and nanoscale. Biological...

Colloidal friction: Kinks in motion.