Experimental Search for Strong van der Waals Forces

Abstract

In the electromagnetic interaction we know about the presence of a long range — van der Waals — force acting between neutral atoms. This interaction is caused by the electric dipole polarizability of atoms. In second order perturbation calculation one can show that the v. d. Waals potential is proportional to the product of the polarizabilities of the atoms and that it is proportional to the inverse sixth power of the interatomic distance. Due to retardation effects this radial behaviour changes to r⁻⁷ for large distances. It has been suggested repeatedly that a similar phenomenon may be found in strong interactions: a long range force acting between colour neutral objects.