  We consider the contribution of thermal capillary waves to the interaction
between a fluid-fluid interface and a nearby nanoparticle. Fluctuations are
described thanks to an effective interaction potential which is derived using
the renormalization group. The general theory is then applied to a spherical
particle interacting with the interface through van der Waals forces.
Surprisingly enough, we find that fluctuations contribute significantly to the
deformation profile. Our study therefore reveals that thermal fluctuations
cannot be ignored when probing nanoscale deformations of a soft interface.
