Casimir Interaction between Polydisperse Colloids Trapped at a Fluid Interface

Abstract: We investigate the effect of polydispersity on fluctuation-induced interactions between Janus colloidal particles trapped at a fluid interface. Using the scattering-matrix formalism, we calculate the thermal Casimir energy in both two- and three-body systems, considering three distinct fluctuation scenarios for the colloids: (a) fixed, (b) bobbing, and (c) bobbing and tilting. Our results reveal a pronounced sensitivity to polydispersity that strongly depends on the fluctuating boundary conditions: while fixed colloids show modest deviations, bobbing and especially bobbing+tilting configurations exhibit orders-of-magnitude amplification in the energy deviation due to polydispersity. These effects are further enhanced at large separations. Our findings highlights the interplay between geometry, colloids fluctuations, and fluctuation-induced forces, with implications for colloidal self-assembly and interface engineering.