Casimir torque on chains of nanoparticles

Stephen Sanders, Wilton J. M. Kort-Kamp, Diego A. R. Dalvit, Alejandro Manjavacas

Published 2018-10-02Version 1

We investigate the Casimir torque acting on a chain of rotating nanoparticles. We show that this noncontact interaction, which arises from the vacuum and thermal fluctuations of the electromagnetic field, mediates an efficient transfer of angular momentum between the elements of the chain. Working within the framework of fluctuational electrodynamics, we derive analytical expressions for the Casimir torque acting on each nanoparticle in the chain, which we use to analyze the synchronization of chains with different geometries and to predict exotic dynamics including a rattleback-like behavior. Our results provide new insights into the Casimir torque and how it can be exploited to achieve efficient noncontact transfer of angular momentum at the nanoscale, and therefore have important implications for the control and manipulation of nanomechanical devices.