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Abstract

Recent experiments on non-covalent interactions at the nanoscale have chal- lenged the basic assumptions of commonly used particle- or fragment-based models for describing van der Waals (vdW) or dispersion forces. We demon- strate that a qualitatively correct description of the vdWinteractions between polarizable nanostructures over a wide range of finite distances can only be attained by accounting for the wavelike nature of charge density fluctuations. By considering a diverse set of materials and biological systems with markedly different dimensionalities, topologies, and polarizabilities, we find a visible en- hancement in the non-locality of the charge density response in the range of 10 to 20 nanometers. These collective wavelike fluctuations are responsible for the emergence of non-trivial modifications of the power laws which govern non-covalent interactions at the nanoscale.