Specificity of Charge Fluctuation Forces. I

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Abstract
The formation of van der Waals crystals, the formation of polymers, the properties of solubility, and several biological phenomena have raised the question what detailed role the van der Waals forces play in these cases. Given a mixture of several types of molecules or macromolecules contained in a liquid medium, the question at issue is whether van der Waals forces, more precisely and generally, forces due to the interaction of fluctuating charge distributions in one molecule with those in an adjacent molecule, will cause preferential association of identical molecules or macromolecules from among that mixture. The fluctuating charge distributions in question may be due to quantum-mechanical fluctuations of charge distribution of electronic oscillators, as considered by London, Eisenschitz, and Wang, and they may also be due to fluctuations of distributions of mobile protons as investigated by Kirkwood and Shumaker.