Electrostatic repulsion between a uncharged or slightly charged conductor and a point charge

Abstract

A counterintuitive effect of a repulsion between uncharged and charged conductors is considered. Our numerical calculations prove this effect for various axially symmetric systems of a neutral conductor in an electric field of a point charge. The presence of a cavity in the conductor is very important for the repulsion effect. Our simple analytical model explains this effect in terms of specific spatial positions of induced charges.

arXiv comment9 pages, 11 figures