Critical Casimir effect in a disordered O(2)-symmetric model.

Area of Science:

• Condensed matter physics
• Statistical mechanics

Background:

• The critical Casimir effect arises from interactions between critical fluctuations and boundaries.
• Understanding this effect in disordered systems is crucial for statistical physics.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate the critical Casimir effect in a Landau-Ginzburg model with continuous symmetry and quenched disorder.
• Analyze the role of Goldstone modes in the presence of strong disorder.

Main Methods:

• Formulated quenched free energy as an asymptotic series of partition function moments.
• Applied the distributional zeta-function method for analysis.
• Avoided specific ansatz in the functional space of moments.

Main Results:

• In strong disorder, Goldstone modes contribute either attractive or repulsive forces.
• The critical Casimir force is modulated by the presence and nature of disorder.

Conclusions:

• Disorder significantly impacts the critical Casimir effect through Goldstone mode contributions.
• The distributional zeta-function method provides a robust framework for studying such systems.