Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Y6.
Phys. Rev. A 43, 2953-2962, (1991).
Abstract
The electrostatic interaction between two
planar dipolar lattices in dielectric continua is investigated. If there
are no dielectric images, the pressure is equally likely to be
attractive or repulsive, depending upon the relative lateral
displacement of the two lattices. In addition to perfect dipolar
lattices, we consider the effects of real dipoles, of disorder, and of
finite-sized domains. When the surfaces constitute the boundary between
dielectric media, and when there are no correlations between the two
surfaces, then there occurs a strong exponentially decaying repulsion
due to the interaction between a lattice and its dielectric images. The
relevance of this repulsion to the hydration force is discussed, and an
experimental test that should discriminate between different theories
for that force is proposed.
Back to publications or to Phil Attard's home page.