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Three-body critical Casimir forces
T G Mattos1, L Harnau2, S Dietrich2
1Departamento de Física e Matemática, Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais, Av. Amazonas 7675, 30510-000 Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Max-Planck-Institut für Intelligente Systeme, Heisenbergstr. 3, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany; and IV. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
Summary
We calculated critical Casimir forces for three colloids in a liquid. A third colloid significantly alters the force between two, especially at close distances and near critical temperature.
Area of Science:
- Colloid science
- Statistical physics
- Soft matter
Background:
- Critical Casimir forces arise in near-critical fluids due to correlations.
- Understanding multi-body interactions is crucial for colloid behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To calculate universal scaling functions for critical Casimir forces in a three-colloid system.
- To analyze the influence of a third colloid on pairwise forces.
- To investigate the three-body component of critical Casimir forces.
Main Methods:
- Mean-field theory calculations.
- Analysis of forces between cylindrical colloids in a binary liquid mixture.
- Studying various geometric arrangements and boundary conditions.
Main Results:
- The presence of a third colloid can alter the sign of the force between two colloids.
- Three-body contributions are significant at small inter-colloid distances and near critical temperatures.
- Comparison with van der Waals forces in atomic systems.
Conclusions:
- The three-body component of critical Casimir forces is substantial and geometry-dependent.
- These findings provide insights into complex colloidal interactions in critical fluids.
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