We have extended the mean field calculation of Zandi et al [1] and have obtained an approximate mathematical expression for the Casimir scaling function, which if extrapolated to the domain $π^2\ge-y\ge 0$, becomes surprisingly similar to that obtained experimentally by Ganshin et al [2]. The extrapolated scaling function can be regarded as a proposed fitting function, that appears to agree better with the experiments [2] in D=3, than the exact mean field result of Zandi et al [1].
The universal finite-size scaling function of the critical Casimir force for the three dimensional XY universality class with Dirichlet boundary conditions is determined using Monte Carlo simulations. The results are in excellent agreement with recent experiments on $^4$He Films at the superfluid transition and with available theoretical predictions.
Tricritical Casimir forces in $^3\text{He}$ -$^4\text{He}$ wetting films are studied, within mean field theory, in therms of a suitable lattice gas model for binary liquid mixtures with short--ranged surface fields. The proposed model takes into account the continuous rotational symmetry O(2) of the superfluid degrees of freedom associated with $^4\text{He}$ and it allows, inter alia, for the occurrence of a vapor phase. As a result, the model facilitates the formation of wetting films, which provides a strengthened theoretical framework to describe available experimental data for tricritical …
Finite size effect in critical systems can be interpreted as universal Casimir forces. Here we compare the Casimir force for free, periodic and antiperiodic boundary conditions in the exactly calculable case of the Ising model in one and two dimensions. We employ a new procedure which allows us to calculate the Casimir force with periodic and antiperiodic boundary conditions analytically in a transparent manner. Quite interestingly, we find an attractive Casimir force for the case of periodic boundary condition but a repulsive Casimir force for the anti-periodic one.
Universal aspects of the thermodynamic Casimir effect in wetting films of 3He-4He mixtures near their bulk tricritical point are studied within suitable models serving as representatives of the corresponding universality class. The effective forces between the boundaries of such films arising from the confinement are calculated along isotherms at several fixed concentrations of 3He. Nonsymmetric boundary conditions impose nontrivial concentration profiles leading to repulsive Casimir forces which exhibit a rich behavior of the crossover between the tricritical point and the line of critical po…
Monte Carlo simulations based on an integration scheme for free energy differences is used to compute critical Casimir forces for three-dimensional Ising films with various boundary fields. We study the scaling behavior of the critical Casimir force, including the scaling variable related to the boundary fields. Finite size corrections to scaling are taken into account. We pay special attention to that range of surface field strengths within which the force changes from repulsive to attractive upon increasing the temperature. Our data are compared with other results available in the literature…
We study the thermodynamic Casimir force for films with various types of boundary conditions and the bulk universality class of the three-dimensional Ising model. To this end we perform Monte Carlo simulations of the improved Blume-Capel model on the simple cubic lattice. In particular, we employ the exchange or geometric cluster cluster algorithm [J.R. Heringa and H. W. J. Blöte, Phys. Rev. E 57, 4976 (1998)]. In a previous work we demonstrated that this algorithm allows to compute the thermodynamic Casimir force for the plate-sphere geometry efficiently. It turns out that also for the film g…
Thermodynamic Casimir forces of film systems in the O$(n)$ universality classes with Dirichlet boundary conditions are studied below bulk criticality. Substantial progress is achieved in resolving the long-standing problem of describing analytically the pronounced minimum of the scaling function observed experimentally in $^4$He films $(n=2)$ by R. Garcia and M.H.W. Chan, Phys. Rev. Lett. ${\bf 83}, 1187 \;(1999)$ and in Monte Carlo simulations for the three-dimensional Ising model ($n=1$) by O. Vasilyev et al., EPL ${\bf 80}, 60009 \;(2007)$. Our finite-size renormalization-group approach yie…
When masless excitations are limited or modified by the presence of material bodies one observes a force atcing between them generally called Casimir force. Such excitations are present in any fluid system close to its true bulk critical point. We derive exact analytical results for both the temperature and external ordering field behavior of the thermodynamic Casimir force within the mean-field Ginzburg-Landau Ising type model of a simple fluid or binary liquid mixture. We investigate the case when under a film geometry the boundaries of the system exhibit strong adsorption onto one of the ph…
We present an analytical solution of the Ginzburg's $Ψ$-theory for the behavior of the Casimir force in a film of $^4$He in equilibrium with its vapor near the superfluid transition point, and we revisit the corresponding experiments in light of our findings. We find reasonably good agreement between the $Ψ$-theory predictions and the experimental data. Our calculated force is attractive, and the largest absolute value of the scaling function is $1.848$, while experiment yields $1.30$. The position of the extremum is predicted to be at $x=(L/ξ_0)(T/T_λ-1)^{1/ν}=π$, while experiment is consiste…
Measurements of Casimir effects in $^4$He films in the vicinity of the bulk superfluid transition temperature $T_λ$ have been carried out, where changes in the film thickness and the superfluid density are both monitored as a function of temperature. The Kosterlitz-Thouless superfluid onset temperature in the film is found to occur just as the Casimir dip in the film thickness from critical fluctuations becomes evident. Additionally, a new film-thickening effect is observed precisely at $T_λ$ when the temperature is swept extremely slowly. We propose that this is a non-universal Casimir effect…
Vortex-loop renormalization techniques are used to calculate the magnitude of the critical Casimir forces in superfluid films. The force is found to become appreciable when size of the thermal vortex loops is comparable to the film thickness, and the results for T < Tc are found to match very well with perturbative renormalization theories that have only been carried out for T > Tc. When applied to a high-Tc superconducting film connected to a bulk sample, the Casimir force causes a voltage difference to appear between the film and bulk, and estimates show that this may be readily measurable.
Recent experiments on the wetting of $^{4}$He have shown that the film becomes thinner at the $λ$ transition, and in the superfluid phase. The difference in thickness above and below the transition has been attributed to a Casimir interaction which is a consequence of a broken continuous symmetry in the bulk superfluid. However, the observed thinning of the film is larger than can be accounted by this Casimir force. We show that surface fluctuations give rise to an additional force, similar in form but larger in magnitude, which may explain the observations.
The confinement of long-ranged critical fluctuations in the vicinity of second-order phase transitions in fluids generates critical Casimir forces acting on confining surfaces or among particles immersed in a critical solvent. This is realized in binary liquid mixtures close to their consolute point $T_{c}$ which belong to the universality class of the Ising model. The deviation of the difference of the chemical potentials of the two species of the mixture from its value at criticality corresponds to the bulk magnetic filed of the Ising model. By using Monte Carlo simulations for this latter r…
We calculate the Casimir stresses in a thin layer of active fluid with nematic order. By using a stochastic hydrodynamic approach for an active fluid layer of finite thickness $L$, we generalize the Casimir stress for nematic liquid crystals in thermal equilibrium to active systems. We show that the active Casimir stress differs significantly from its equilibrium counterpart. For contractile activity, the active Casimir stress, although attractive like its equilibrium counterpart, diverges logarithmically as $L$ approaches a threshold of the spontaneous flow instability from below. In contrast…
In confined systems near a continuous phase transition the long-ranged fluctuations of the corresponding order parameter are subject to boundary conditions. These constraints result in so-called critical Casimir forces acting as effective forces on the confining surfaces. For systems belonging to the Ising bulk universality class corresponding to a scalar order parameter the critical Casimir force is studied for the film geometry in the crossover regime characterized by different surface fields at the two surfaces. The scaling function of the critical Casimir force is calculated within mean fi…
Recently V. A. Yampol'skii, S. Savel'ev, Z. A. Mayselis, S. S. Apostolov, and F. Nori [Phys. Rev. Lett., v.101, 096803 (2008),arXiv:0712.1395] claimed that the Casimir force between a thin metal film described by the Drude model and an ideal metal semispace can decrease with temperature whereas for bulk samples the Casimir force increases with temperature. On this basis the experimental observation of the decreasing temperature dependence of the Casimir force magnitude between a film and a bulk ideal metal was proposed. We demonstrate that, contrary to what is claimed by the authors, the magni…
Experiments on $^4$He films reveal an attractive Casimir-like force at the bulk $λ$-point, and in the superfluid regime. Previous work has explained the magnitude of this force at the $λ$ transition and deep in the superfluid region but not the substantial attractive force immediately below the $λ$-point. Utilizing a simple mean-field calculation renormalized by critical fluctuations we obtain an effective Casimir force that is qualitatively consistent with the scaling function $\vartheta$ obtained by collapse of experimental data.
We present an analytical solution of an effective field theory which, in one of its formulations, is equivalent to the Ginzburg's $Ψ$-theory for the behavior of the Casimir force in a film of $^4$He in equilibrium with its vapor near the superfluid transition point. We consider three versions of the theory, depending on the way one determines its parameters from the experimental measurements. We present exact results for the behavior of the order parameter profiles and of the Casimir force within this theory, which is characterized by $d=3$, $ν=2/3$ and $β=1/3$, where $d$ is the bulk spatial d…
We study the thermodynamic Casimir effect in thin films in the three dimensional XY universality class. To this end, we simulate the improved two component phi^4 model on the simple cubic lattice. We use lattices up to the thickness L_0=33. Based on the results of our Monte Carlo simulations we compute the universal finite size scaling function theta that characterizes the behaviour of the thermodynamic Casimir force in the neighbourhood of the critical point. We confirm that leading corrections to the universal finite size scaling behaviour due to free boundary conditions can be expressed by …
The limit n to infinity of the classical O(n) phi^4 model on a 3d film with free surfaces is studied. Its exact solution involves a self-consistent 1d Schrödinger equation, which is solved numerically for a partially discretized as well as for a fully discrete lattice model. Numerically exact results are obtained for the scaled Casimir force at all temperatures. Obtained via a single framework, they exhibit all relevant qualitative features of the thermodynamic Casimir force known from wetting experiments on Helium-4 and Monte Carlo simulations, including a pronounced minimum below the bulk cr…
We discuss the relation of the specific heat, the energy density and the thermodynamic Casimir effect in the case of thin films in the three dimensional XY universality class. The finite size scaling function $θ(x)$ of the thermodynamic Casimir force can be expressed in terms of the scaling functions h'(x) and h(x) of the excess energy density and the excess free energy density. A priori these quantities depend on the reduced temperature t and the thickness L_0 of the film. However finite size scaling theory predicts that the scaling functions depend only on the combination x=t [L_0/ξ_0]^{1/ν}…
In a recent study [Phys. Rev. E \textbf{94}, 022103 (2016)] it has been shown that, for a fluid film subject to critical adsorption, the resulting critical Casimir force (CCF) may significantly depend on the thermodynamic ensemble. Here, we extend that study by considering fluid films within the so-called ordinary surface universality class. We focus on mean-field theory, within which the OP profile satisfies Dirichlet boundary conditions and produces a nontrivial CCF in the presence of external bulk fields or, respectively, a nonzero total order parameter within the film. Our analytical resul…
We consider the effective pseudo-Casimir interaction forces mediated by a nematic liquid-crystalline film bounded by two planar surfaces, one of which imposes a random (disordered) distribution of the preferred anchoring axis in the so-called easy direction. We consider both the case of a quenched as well as an annealed disorder for the easy direction on the disordered surface and analyze the resultant fluctuation-induced interaction between the surfaces. In the case of quenched disorder, we show that the disorder effects appear additively in the total interaction and are dominant at intermedi…
The contact value theorem for Coulomb gases in planar or film-like geometries is derived using a Hamiltonian field theoretic representation of the system. The case where the film is enclosed by a material of different dielectric constant to that of the film is shown to contain an additional Casimir-like term which is generated by fluctuations of the electric potential about its mean-field value.
Recent experimental data for the complete wetting behavior of pure 4He and of 3He-4He mixtures exposed to solid substrates show that there is a change of the corresponding film thicknesses L upon approaching thermodynamically the lambda-transition and the tricritical end point, respectively, which can be attributed to critical Casimir forces f_C. We calculate the scaling functions vartheta of f_C within models representing the corresponding universality classes. For the mixtures our analysis provides an understanding of the rich behavior of vartheta deduced from the experimental data and predi…
On the example of the spherical model we study, as a function of the temperature $T$, the behavior of the Casimir force in O(n) systems with a diffuse interface and slab geometry $\infty^{d-1}\times L$, where $2<d<4$ is the dimensionality of the system. We consider a system with nearest-neighbor anisotropic interaction constants $J_\parallel$ parallel to the film and $J_\perp$ across it. The model represents the $n\to\infty$ limit of O(n) models with antiperiodic boundary conditions applied across the finite dimension $L$ of the film. We observe that the Casimir amplitude $Δ_{\rm Casimir}(d|J_…
For the first time we present analytical results for the contribution of electromagnetic fluctuations into thermodynamic properties of modulated systems, like cholesteric or smectic liquid crystalline films. In the case of small dielectric anisotropy we have derived explicit analytical expressions for the chemical potential of such systems. Two limiting cases were specifically considered: (i) the Van der Waals (VdW) limit, i.e., in the case when the retardation of the electromagnetic interactions can be neglected; and (ii) the Casimir limit, i.e. when the effects of retardation becomes conside…
Recently it has been suggested that relativistic Bose gas of some type can be playing role in issues like dark matter, dark energy, and in some cosmological problems. In the current article we investigate one known exactly solvable model of three-dimensional statistical-mechanical model of relativistic Bose gas that takes into account the existence of both particles and antiparticles. We derive exact expressions for the behavior of the Casimir force for the system subjected to film geometry under periodic boundary conditions. We show that the Casimir force between the plates is attractive, mon…
Using analytic and numerical approaches, we study the spatio-temporal evolution of a conserved order parameter of a fluid in film geometry, following an instantaneous quench to the critical temperature $T_c$ as well as to supercritical temperatures. The order parameter dynamics is chosen to be governed by model B within mean field theory and is subject to no-flux boundary conditions as well as to symmetric surface fields at the confining walls. The latter give rise to critical adsorption of the order parameter at both walls and provide the driving force for the non-trivial time evolution of th…
When massless excitations are limited or modified by the presence of material bodies one observes a force acting between them generally called Casimir force. Such excitations are present in any fluid system close to its true bulk critical point. We derive exact analytical results for both the temperature and external ordering field behavior of the thermodynamic Casimir force within the mean-field Ginzburg-Landau Ising type model of a simple fluid or binary liquid mixture. We investigate the case when under a film geometry the boundaries of the system exhibit strong adsorption onto one of the p…
We study critical Casimir forces (CCF) $f_{\mathrm C}$ for films of thickness $L$ which in the three-dimensional bulk belong to the Ising universality class and which are exposed to random surface fields (RSF) on both surfaces. We consider the case that, in the absence of RSF, the surfaces of the film belong to the surface universality class of the so-called ordinary transition. We carry out a finite-size scaling analysis and show that for weak disorder CCF still exhibit scaling, acquiring a random field scaling variable $w$ which is zero for pure systems. We confirm these analytic predictions…
We study the crossover from the ordinary to the normal surface universality class in the three-dimensional Ising universality class. This crossover is relevant for the behavior of films of binary mixtures near the demixing point and a weak adsorption at one or both surfaces. We perform Monte Carlo simulations of the improved Blume-Capel model on the simple cubic lattice. We consider systems with film geometry, where various boundary conditions are applied. We discuss corrections to scaling that are caused by the surfaces and their relation with the so called extrapolation length. To this end w…
We study the thermodynamic Casimir force for films in the three-dimensional Ising universality class with symmetry breaking boundary conditions. To this end we simulate the improved Blume-Capel model on the simple cubic lattice. We study the two cases ++, where all spins at the boundary are fixed to +1 and +-, where the spins at one boundary are fixed to +1 while those at the other boundary are fixed to -1. An important issue in analyzing Monte Carlo and experimental data are corrections to scaling. Since we simulate an improved model, leading corrections to scaling, which are proportional to …
Random (disordered) components in the surface anchoring of the smectic-A liquid crystalline film in general modify the thermal pseudo-Casimir interaction. Anchoring disorder of the quenched type is in general decoupled from the thermal pseudo-Casimir force and gives rise to an additional disorder-generated interaction, in distinction to the annealed disorder, whose effect on the pseudo-Casimir force is non-additive. We consider the effects of the surface anchoring disorder by assuming that one of the substrates of the film is contaminated by a disorder source, resulting in a Gaussian-weighted …
We present results for the temperature behavior of the Casimir force for a system with a film geometry with thickness $L$ subject to free boundary conditions and described by the $n\to\infty$ limit of the $O(n)$ model. These results extend over all temperatures, including the critical regime near the bulk critical temperature $T_c$, where the critical fluctuations determine the behavior of the force, and temperatures well below it, where its behavior is dictated by the Goldstone's modes contributions. The temperature behavior when the absolute temperature, $T$, is a finite distance below $T_c$…
The confinement of critical fluctuations in soft media induces critical Casimir forces acting on the confining surfaces. The temperature and geometry dependences of such forces are characterized by universal scaling functions. A novel approach is presented to determine them for films via Monte Carlo simulations of lattice models. The method is based on an integration scheme of free energy differences. Our results for the Ising and the XY universality class compare favourably with corresponding experimental results for wetting layers of classical binary liquid mixtures and of 4He, respectively.
We have considered the critical Casimir force on a $^4$He film below and above the bulk $λ$ point. We have explored the role of fluctuations around the mean field theory in a perturbative manner, and have substantially improved the mean field result of Zandi et al [Phys. Rev. E {\bf 76}, 030601(R) (2007)]. The Casimir scaling function obtained by us approaches a universal constant ($-\frac{ζ(3)}{8π}$) for $T\lesssim 2.13~\text{K}$.
In a recent letter, Martin and Zagrebnov [Europhys. Lett., 73 (2006) 1] discussed the thermodynamic Casimir effect for the ideal Bose gas confined in a thin film. We point out that their findings can be expressed in terms of previous general results for the Casimir effect induced by confined critical fluctuations. This highlights the links between the Casimir effect in the contexts of critical phenomena and Bose-Einstein condensation.
Finite-size effects are investigated in the Gaussian model with isotropic and anisotropic short-range interactions in film geometry with nonperiodic boundary conditions (b.c). We have obtained exact results for the free energy and the Casimir force for antiperiodic, Neumann, Dirichlet, and Neumann-Dirichlet mixed b.c. in 1<d<4 dimensions. For the Casimir force, finite-size scaling is found to be valid for all b.c.. For the free energy, finite-size scaling is valid in 1<d<3 and 3<d<4 dimensions for antiperiodic, Neumann, and Dirichlet b.c., but logarithmic deviations from finite-size scaling ex…
We investigate the three dimensional lattice XY model with nearest neighbor interaction. The vector order parameter of this system lies on the vertices of a cubic lattice, which is embedded in a system with a film geometry. The orientations of the vectors are fixed at the two opposite sides of the film. The angle between the vectors at the two boundaries is $α$ where $0 \le α\le π$. We make use of the mean field approximation to study the mean length and orientation of the vector order parameter throughout the film---and the Casimir force it generates---as a function of the temperature $T$, th…
Effective Casimir forces induced by thermal fluctuations in the vicinity of bulk critical points are studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations in three-dimensional systems for film geometries and within the experimentally relevant Ising and XY universality classes. Several surface universality classes of the confining surfaces are considered, some of which are relevant for recent experiments. A novel approach introduced previously EPL 80, 60009 (2007), based inter alia on an integration scheme of free energy differences, is utilized to compute the universal scaling functions of the critical …
Systems described by an O(n) symmetrical $ϕ^4$ Hamiltonian are considered in a $d$-dimensional film geometry at their bulk critical points. A detailed renormalization-group (RG) study of the critical Casimir forces induced between the film's boundary planes by thermal fluctuations is presented for the case where the O(n) symmetry remains unbroken by the surfaces. The boundary planes are assumed to cause short-ranged disturbances of the interactions that can be modelled by standard surface contributions $\propto \bmϕ^2$ corresponding to subcritical or critical enhancement of the surface interac…
Critical dynamics in film geometry is analyzed within the field-theoretical approach. In particular we consider the case of purely relaxational dynamics (Model A) and Dirichlet boundary conditions, corresponding to the so-called ordinary surface universality class on both confining boundaries. The general scaling properties for the linear response and correlation functions and for dynamic Casimir forces are discussed. Within the Gaussian approximation we determine the analytic expressions for the associated universal scaling functions and study quantitatively in detail their qualitative featur…
The critical Casimir force (CCF) arises from confining fluctuations in a critical fluid and thus it is a fluctuating quantity itself. While the mean CCF is universal, its (static) variance has previously been found to depend on the microscopic details of the system which effectively set a large-momentum cutoff in the underlying field theory, rendering it potentially large. This raises the question how the properties of the force variance are reflected in experimentally observable quantities, such as the thickness of a wetting film or the position of a suspended colloidal particle. Here, based …
It is shown that the violation of the positiveness of the entropy due to the Casimir-Lifshitz interaction claimed in several papers is an artifact related to an improper interpretation of the "Casimir entropy", which actually is a difference of two positive terms. It is explained that at definite condition this "Casimir entropy" must be negative. A direct derivation of the low temperature behavior of the surface entropy of a metallic surface in conditions of the anomalous skin effect is given and singular temperature dependency of this quantity is discussed. In conclusion a hydrodynamic exampl…
We study the critical behavior of the free energy and the thermodynamic Casimir force in a $L_\parallel^{d-1} \times L$ block geometry in $2<d<4$ dimensions with aspect ratio $ρ=L/L_\parallel$ above, at, and below $T_c$ on the basis of the O$(n)$ symmetric $ϕ^4$ lattice model with periodic boundary conditions (b.c.). We consider a simple-cubic lattice with isotropic short-range interactions. Exact results are derived in the large - $n$ limit describing the geometric crossover from film ($ρ=0$) over cubic $ρ=1$ to cylindrical ($ρ= \infty$) geometries. For $n=1$, three perturbation approaches ar…
We study the thermodynamic Casimir force for films in the three-dimensional Ising universality class with symmetry breaking boundary conditions. We focus on the effect of corrections to scaling and probe numerically the universality of our results. In particular we check our hypothesis that corrections are well described by an effective thickness L_{0,eff}=L_0+c (L_0+L_s)^{1-ω} +L_s, where c and L_s are system specific parameters and ω\approx 0.8 is the exponent of the leading bulk correction. We simulate the improved Blume-Capel model and the Ising model on the simple cubic lattice. First we …
We present the results of a one-loop calculation of the effect of a van der Waals type interaction potential $\sim | {\bf x} |^{-d-σ}$ on the critical Casimir force and specific heat of confined $^4$He near the superfluid transition. We consider a $^4$He film of thickness $L$. In the region $L \gtrsim ξ$ (correlation length) we find that the van der Waals interaction causes a leading non-universal non-scaling contribution of $O (ξ^2 L^{-d-σ})$ to the critical temperature dependence of the Casimir force above $T_λ$ that dominates the universal scaling contribution $\sim e^{- L/ξ}$ predicted by …
Systems described by an O(n) symmetrical $ϕ^4$ Hamiltonian are considered in a $d$-dimensional film geometry at their bulk critical points. The critical Casimir forces between the film's boundary planes $\mathfrak{B}_j, j=1,2$, are investigated as functions of film thickness $L$ for generic symmetry-preserving boundary conditions $\partial_n\bmϕ=\mathring{c}_j\bmϕ$. The $L$-dependent part of the reduced excess free energy per cross-sectional area takes the scaling form $f_{\text{res}}\approx D(c_1L^{Φ/ν},c_2L^{Φ/ν})/L^{d-1}$ when $d<4$, where $c_i$ are scaling fields associated with the variab…
We present exact results on the behavior of the thermodynamic Casimir force and the excess free energy in the framework of the $d$-dimensional spherical model with a power law long-range interaction decaying at large distances $r$ as $r^{-d-σ}$, where $σ<d<2σ$ and $0<σ\leq2$. For a film geometry and under periodic boundary conditions we consider the behavior of these quantities near the bulk critical temperature $T_c$, as well as for $T>T_c$ and $T<T_c$. The universal finite-size scaling function governing the behavior of the force in the critical region is derived and its asymptotics are inve…
We consider the dynamics of an isolated quantum many-body system after a sudden change of one control parameter, focusing on the statistics of the work done. We establish a connection between the generating function of the distribution of the work and the partition function of a classical system in a film geometry. Using this connection, we first show that the scaling of the fidelity susceptibilities close to a quantum phase transition can be understood in terms of the critical behavior of the excess entropy and specific heat in the classical model. Remarkably, we show that the statistics of t…
The effect of imposing a constraint on a fluctuating scalar order parameter field in a system of finite volume is studied within statistical field theory. The canonical ensemble, corresponding to a fixed total integrated order parameter, is obtained as a special case of the theory. A perturbative expansion is developed which allows one to systematically determine the constraint-induced finite-volume corrections to the free energy and to correlation functions. In particular, we focus on the Landau-Ginzburg model in a film geometry (i.e., a rectangular parallelepiped with a small aspect ratio) w…
Recent experiments have measured the critical Casimir force acting on a colloid immersed in a binary liquid mixture near its continuous demixing phase transition and exposed to a chemically structured substrate. Motivated by these experiments, we study the critical behavior of a system, which belongs to the Ising universality class, for the film geometry with one planar wall chemically striped, such that there is a laterally alternating adsorption preference for the two species of the binary liquid mixture, which is implemented by surface fields. For the opposite wall we employ alternatively a…
Motivated by recent experiments with confined binary liquid mixtures near demixing, we study the universal critical properties of a system, which belongs to the Ising universality class, in the film geometry. We employ periodic boundary conditions in the two lateral directions and fixed boundary conditions on the two confining surfaces, such that one of them has a spatially homogeneous adsorption preference while the other one exhibits a laterally alternating adsorption preference, resembling locally a single chemical step. By means of Monte Carlo simulations of an improved Hamiltonian, so tha…
Recent experimental realizations of the critical Casimir effect have been implemented by monitoring colloidal particles immersed in a binary liquid mixture near demixing and exposed to a chemically structured substrate. In particular, critical Casimir forces have been measured for surfaces consisting of stripes with periodically alternating adsorption preferences, forming chemical steps between them. Motivated by these experiments, we analyze the contribution of such chemical steps to the critical Casimir force for the film geometry and within the Ising universality class. By means of Monte Ca…
We investigate the effect of quenched surface disorder on effective interactions between two planar surfaces immersed in fluids which are near criticality and belong to the Ising bulk universality class. We consider the case that, in the absence of random surface fields, the surfaces of the film belong to the surface universality class of the so-called ordinary transition. We find analytically that in the linear weak-coupling regime, i.e., upon including the mean-field contribution and Gaussian fluctuations, the presence of random surface fields with zero mean leads to an attractive, disorder-…
Critical properties of a liquid film between two planar walls are investigated in the canonical ensemble, within which the total number of particles, rather than their chemical potential, is kept constant. The effect of this constraint is analyzed within mean field theory (MFT) based on a Ginzburg-Landau free energy functional as well as via Monte Carlo simulations of the 3D Ising model with fixed total magnetization. Within MFT and for finite adsorption strengths at the walls, the thermodynamic properties of the film in the canonical ensemble can be mapped exactly onto a grand canonical ensem…
We discuss a method that allows to compute the thermodynamic Casimir force at a given temperature in lattice models by performing a single Monte Carlo simulation. It is analogous to the one used by de Forcrand and Noth and de Forcrand, Lucini and Vettorazzo in the study of 't Hooft loops and the interface tension in SU(N) lattice gauge models in four dimensions. We test the method at the example of thin films in the XY universality class. In particular we simulate the improved two-component phi^4 model on the simple cubic lattice. This allows us to compare with our previous study, where we hav…
Motivated by recent experiments with confined binary liquid mixtures near their continous demixing phase transition we study the critical behavior of a system, which belongs to the Ising universality class, for the film geometry with one planar wall chemically structured such that there is a laterally alternating adsorption preference for the species of the binary liquid mixture. By means of Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling analysis we determine the critical Casimir force and the corresponding universal scaling function.
The three dimensional mean spherical model on a hypercubic lattice with a film geometry $L\times \infty ^2$ under periodic boundary conditions is considered in the presence of an external magnetic field $H$. The universal Casimir amplitude $Δ$ and the Binder's cumulant ratio $B$ are calculated exactly and found to be $Δ=-2ζ(3)/(5π)\approx -0.153051$ and $B=2π/(\sqrt{5}\ln ^3[(1+\sqrt{5})/2]).$ A discussion on the relations between the finite temperature $C$-function, usually defined for quantum systems, and the excess free energy (due to the finite-size contributions to the free energy of the …
