The van der Waals interaction in one, two, and three dimensions

The van der Waals interaction between two polarizable atoms is considered. In three dimensions, the standard form with an attractive 1/R6 potential is obtained from second-order quantum perturbation theory. When the electron motion is restricted to lower dimensions (but the 1/R Coulomb potential is...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of physics 2015-02, Vol.83 (2), p.150-155
Main Authors: Ipsen, A. C., Splittorff, K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atoms & subatomic particles
Dimensional analysis
Electrons
Particle physics
Quantum theory
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The van der Waals interaction between two polarizable atoms is considered. In three dimensions, the standard form with an attractive 1/R6 potential is obtained from second-order quantum perturbation theory. When the electron motion is restricted to lower dimensions (but the 1/R Coulomb potential is retained), new terms in the expansion appear and alter both the sign and the R-dependence of the interaction.
ISSN:0002-9505
1943-2909
DOI:10.1119/1.4896248