Is anyone familiar with van der waals forces in plasma, and or maybe van der waals forces in general?

 

I need some information on them and google has not been very helpful.

 

any help would be appreciated

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_der_Waals_bonding

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_der_Waals_forces

 

Van der Waals force is caused by atoms becoming dipoles and attracting/repelling each other...

If you want more info I know a bit, but those links are pretty good.

 

Also see:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/chemical/waal.html

http://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/bonding/vdw.html

I too am intrigued by these forces. I think their importance in large molecule formation during the early universe before the formation of massive bodies and large scale gravitational effects has been neglected. I await further posts with interest......

What specifically do you want to know that isn't in the 4 links given above by Klaynos and myself?

I'm kinda interested in the mathmatics behind them, I've heard that in plasma's van der walls forces can create a sort of surface tension in the plasma.