Possible strong Van der Waals force is searched in the nuclear interaction, whose existence is expected when the fundamental interaction between quarks is strong or superstrong Coulombic type. The relation between the type of the extra singularity at t = 0 of the scattering amplitude and the power of the asymptotic behavior of the long range potential is derived. The square root cusp in the onc...

The problem of designing an atom interferometer with optimum sensitivity to de Broglie wave phase shifts is revisited. Because van der Waals interactions affect how efficiently material gratings work as beam splitters, we find the optimum open fraction for each of the gratings in a three-grating Mach Zehnder atom interferometer depends on the van der Waals interaction strength as well as the at...

The physics of operation of nanotube NEMS devices is reviewed. Special attention is paid to non-classical effects, rarely described in MEMS analysis, such as van der Waals/Casimir interactions, quantum effects in electrostatics, atomistic parameterization of elasticity. As an example of a breakdown of a classical MEMS theory, the NEMS scaling limitation is derived in a lump model taking into ac...

A mathematical derivation of an analytical expression is presented to evaluate the van der Waals interaction between a sphere and a cylindrical rod. This expression then is applied to study the growth of one-dimensional nanostructures, such as nanorods, using a common growth mechanism in colloidal chemistry, the oriented attachment growth mechanism. Parameters associated with the dimensions and...

The assembly of individual two-dimensional materials into van der Waals heterostructures enables the construction of layered three-dimensional materials with desirable electronic and optical properties. A core problem in the fabrication of these structures is the formation of clean interfaces between the individual two-dimensional materials which would affect device performance. We present here...

The rise of 2D materials made it possible to form heterostructures held together by weak interplanar van der Waals interactions. Within such van der Waals heterostructures, the occurrence of 2D periodic potentials significantly modifies the electronic structure of single sheets within the stack, therefore modulating the material properties. However, these periodic potentials are determined by t...

Information on the structure, the rigidity and the intermolecular potential of molecular complexes is essential to our understanding of the physical and chemical properties of molecular complexes. In this work we would like to demonstrate that rotationally resolved U V spectroscopy provides precise new information on these topics. In particular, the structure and van der Waals bond length of be...

The van der Waals coefficients between quasispherical nanostructures can be modeled accurately and analytically by those of classical solid spheres (for nanoclusters) or spherical shells (for fullerenes) of uniform valence electron density, with the true static dipole polarizability. Here, we derive analytically and confirm numerically from this model the size dependencies of the van der Waals ...

Scalar couplings between covalently bound nuclear spins are a ubiquitous feature in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments, imparting valuable information to NMR spectra regarding molecular structure and conformation. Such couplings arise due to a second-order hyperfine interaction, and, in principle, the same mechanism should lead to scalar couplings between nuclear spins in unbound van ...

Title: Non-Covalent van der Waals Interactions at the Nanoscale: A Solved Problem? When: Thursday, 14 April (2016), 15:00h Place: Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada, Facultad Ciencias, Module 5, Seminar Room (5th Floor). Speaker: Prof. Alexandre Tkatchenko, Physics and Materials Science Research Unit, University of Luxembourg, L-1511 Luxembourg. Non-covalent van der Waals (...