Controlling nanoscale motion with quantum fluctuations

Quantum fluctuations of electromagnetic waves are responsible for a variety of physical phenomena ranging from spontaneous emission to nanoscale forces, including those which allow some lizards to cling to walls. On the atomic scale, these interactions result in the van der Waals force and at slightly larger separations give rise to the Casimir effect. In this talk, I will present our work on engineering quantum fluctuations to control forces and torques at the nano-to-micro-scale. I will discuss recent experimental and theoretical results, as well as outline a path forward for using these phenomena for nanoscale machines.