Proximity effect (atomic physics)
Encyclopedia
At the atomic level
, when two atoms come into proximity, the highest energy, or valence, orbitals of the atoms change substantially and the electrons on the two atoms reorganize. One way to probe a correlated state is through the proximity effect. This phenomenon occurs when the correlations present in one degenerate system "leak" into another one with which it is in chemical equilibrium. See also quantum tunneling, Casimir effect
, van der Waals force
.
Atomic physics
Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. It is primarily concerned with the arrangement of electrons around the nucleus and...
, when two atoms come into proximity, the highest energy, or valence, orbitals of the atoms change substantially and the electrons on the two atoms reorganize. One way to probe a correlated state is through the proximity effect. This phenomenon occurs when the correlations present in one degenerate system "leak" into another one with which it is in chemical equilibrium. See also quantum tunneling, Casimir effect
Casimir effect
In quantum field theory, the Casimir effect and the Casimir–Polder force are physical forces arising from a quantized field. The typical example is of two uncharged metallic plates in a vacuum, like capacitors placed a few micrometers apart, without any external electromagnetic field...
, van der Waals force
Van der Waals force
In physical chemistry, the van der Waals force , named after Dutch scientist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, is the sum of the attractive or repulsive forces between molecules other than those due to covalent bonds or to the electrostatic interaction of ions with one another or with neutral...
.