Reply to: Comment on `Long-range electrostatic interactions between like-charged colloids: steric and confinement effects'

Abstract

In his Comment (cond-mat/0104060) to [Phys. Rev. E 60, 6530 (1999)], Mateescu shows that while the effective interactions remain repulsive when the specific size of the micro-ions is taken into account via a Modified Poisson-Boltzmann equation, a similar conclusion cannot be reached for the situation of complete lateral confinement. This point is correct but has already been considered in a more general study [Phys. Rev. E 62, R1465 (2000), where repulsion is generically obtained]; moreover, we argue that it illustrates the irrelevancy of the notion of pair potential in completely confined configurations, as shown on a simple example.