We evaluate the van der Waals (vdW) interaction energy at zero temperature between two undoped strained graphene layers separated by a finite distance. We consider the following three models for the anisotropic case: (a) where one of the two layers is uniaxially strained, (b) the two layers are strained in the same direction, and (c) one of the layers is strained in the perpendicular direction with respect to the other. We find that for all three models and given value of the electronelectron interaction coupling, the vdW interaction energy increases with increasing anisotropy. The effect is most striking for the case when both layers are strained in the same direction where we observe up to an order of magnitude increase in the strained relative to the unstrained case. We also investigate the effect of electron electron interaction renormalization in the region of large separation between the strained graphene layers. We find that the many-body renormalization contributions to the correlation energy are non negligible and the vdW interaction energy decreases as a function of increasing distance between the layers due to renormalization of the Fermi velocity, the anisotropy, and the effective interaction. Our analysis can be useful in designing novel graphene-based vdW heterostructures which, in recent times, has seen an upsurge in research activity.

Before they can talk meaningfully about anthropogenic climate change, students need to grasp basic principles of natural planetary climates, for example, the key role of trace atmospheric gases in setting surface temperature. We describe a dramatic demonstration that scales well for large audiences and that requires as little as ten classroom minutes to show the crucial difference between room air and carbon dioxide gas. Beyond its significance for public policy, the demonstration can serve as a springboard to motivate discussion of important physics concepts such as rotation and vibration spectra.