Dielectric continuum theory of the Van der Waals interaction

Abstract

We extend our local dielectric model of surface properties to encompass the calculation of the (nonretarded) Van der Waals interaction between two dissimilar media separated by a third. As established earlier, the computation of this energy reduces to the evaluation of the classical electrostatic fields associated with a point charge in the three-medium geometry. Explicit results are given for three media separated by parallel planar boundaries, in which case the requisite electrostatic fields may be evaluated simply by the method of images. These results reduce to those obtained earlier for two identical media separated by a vacuum.