From: Horace Heffner <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > JB: I think that an inverse fifth power will apply here
Why? The dipole force is a 1/r^4 force. Yes - It is at macro dimensions. ... but at nanoscale and below there are, first of all- numerous online references to a jump to the fifth power at the atomic scale. However, I cannot find a definitive citation for that. This situation is (or could be) similar to that of EM radiation. A classical calculation shows that the power radiated by a blackbody is proportional to the inverse fourth power of wavelength BUT... although this relationship does hold experimentally for wavelengths of light up into the ultraviolet, it fails for shorter wavelengths and was corrected by Max Planck. At shorter wavelength we find a jump to a fifth power law. I made a quick search to look for an authoritative reference to this connection in a more general sense - but nothing popped up quickly. It is important enough to dig deeper - if - someone does not come to my rescue here with the voice of authority. I would like to think (for obvious reasons) that it has some relevance to the "Hartree energy" and the scale of dimensions related to that. Jones
