Variations of the Lifshitz-van der Waals force between metals immersed in liquids.

We present a theoretical calculation of the Lifshitz-van der Waals force between two metallic slabs embedded in a fluid, taking into account the change of the Drude parameters of the metals when in contact with liquids of different index of refraction. For the three liquids considered in this work, water, CCl(3)F and CBr(3)F the change in the Drude parameters of the metal imply a difference of up to 15% in the determination of the force at short separations. These variations in the force are larger for liquids with a higher index of refraction.