---
abstract: 'Our previous article \[Phys. Rev. Lett. **104**, 060401 (2010)\] predicted that Casimir forces induced by the material-dispersion properties of certain dielectrics can give rise to stable configurations of objects. This phenomenon was illustrated via a dicluster configuration of non-touching objects consisting of two spheres immersed in a fluid and suspended against gravity above a plate. Here, we examine these predictions from the perspective of a practical experiment and consider the influence of non-additive, three-body, and nonzero-temperature effects on the stability of the two spheres. We conclude that the presence of Brownian motion reduces the set of experimentally realizable silicon/teflon spherical diclusters to those consisting of layered micro-spheres, such as the hollow-core (spherical shells) considered here.'
author:
- Jaime Varela
- 'Alejandro W. Rodriguez'
- 'Alexander P. McCauley'
- 'Steven G. Johnson'
bibliography:
- 'photon.bib'
title: 'Casimir micro-sphere diclusters and three-body effects in fluids'
---

Introduction
============

![Schematic of two-sphere dicluster geometry consisting of two dielectric spheres of radii $R_1$ and $R_2$ separated by a center–center distance $d$ from each other, and suspended by heights $h_1$ and $h_2$, respectively, above a dielectric plate.[]{data-label="fig:fig1"}](sketch){width="0.7\columnwidth"}

In this paper, we investigate the influence of non-additive/three-body and nonzero-temperature effects on our earlier prediction 