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Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Optical Trap Loading of Dielectric Microparticles In Air
Published on: February 5, 2017
Comment on "Trapping force, force constant, and potential depths for dielectric spheres in the presence of spherical
1Institut Fresnel, Unité Mixte de Recherche 6133, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques de St Jérôme, Avenue Escadrille, Normandie-Niemen, F-13397 Marseille Cedex 20, France. patrick.chaumet@fresnel.fr
Abstract:
I point out a confusion that is rather common in optical forces, i.e., that the time average of the Lorentz force on a dipole (for a harmonic time-varying field) is sometimes assumed to be a gradient force that is due to omission of the radiative reaction term in the polarizability of the dipole.
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