Super-slippery Carbon Nanotubes: Symmetry Breaking breaks friction
arXiv:cond-mat/0105449 · doi:10.1140/epjb/e20020014
Abstract
The friction between the walls of multi-wall carbon nanotubes is shown to be extremely low in general, with important details related to the specific choice of the walls. This is governed by a simple expression revealing that the phenomenon is a profound consequence of the specific symmetry breaking: super-slippery sliding of the incommensurate walls is a Goldstone mode. Three universal principles of tribology, offering a recipe for the lubricant selection are emphasized.
4 pages, 2 figures, 1 table; pdf available from: http://www.ff.bg.ac.yu/qmf/qsg_e.htm