Critical Casimir Effect

OK, so I didn't know that there's a thermodynamic analog of the Casimir effect, called the "critical Casimir effect". So this is definitely fascinating.

When two conducting plates are brought in close proximity to one another, vacuum fluctuations in the electromagnetic field between them create a pressure. This effective force, known as the Casimir effect, has a thermodynamic analog: the “critical Casimir effect.” In this case, thermal fluctuations of a local order parameter (such as density) near a continuous phase transition can attract or repel nearby objects when they are in confinement.

You can read more about it by getting the actual paper from the link given. I definitely will have to dig up the references in here to catch up on this.

Zz.