Binding of similarly charged plates with counterions only

Similarly and highly charged plates in the presence of multivalent counterions attract each other and form electrostatically bound states. Using Monte-Carlo simulations, we obtain the interplate pressure in the global parameter space. The equilibrium plate separation, where the pressure changes from...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2001-08, Vol.87 (7), p.078301-078301, Article 078301
Main Authors: Moreira, A G, Netz, R R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
BOUND STATE
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
ELECTROSTATICS
ENTROPY
PLATES
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Summary:Similarly and highly charged plates in the presence of multivalent counterions attract each other and form electrostatically bound states. Using Monte-Carlo simulations, we obtain the interplate pressure in the global parameter space. The equilibrium plate separation, where the pressure changes from attractive to repulsive, exhibits a novel unbinding transition. A systematic and asymptotically exact strong-coupling field theory yields the bound state from a competition between counterion entropy and electrostatic attraction, in agreement with simple scaling arguments and simulations.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.078301