EDP Sciences Journals List
Home Document
Subscriber Authentication Point
Issue Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics
Volume 145, June 2007
Nodal Patterns in Physics and Mathematics
Page(s) 125 - 136
DOI 10.1140/epjst/e2007-00151-6
Published online 26 June 2007

Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 145, 125-136 (2007)
DOI: 10.1140/epjst/e2007-00151-6

Nodal patterns of floaters in surface waves

S. Lukaschuk1, P. Denissenko1 and G. Falkovich2

1  Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, The University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
2  Physics of Complex Systems, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel

S.Lukaschuk@hull.ac.uk

(Published online: 26 June 2007)

Abstract
We argue theoretically and demonstrate experimentally that in a standing wave floating particles drift towards the nodes or anti-nodes depending on their hydrophilic or hydrophobic properties. We explain this effect as the breakdown of Archimedes' law by a surface tension, which creates a difference between the masses of the floater and displaced liquid, making the particle effectively inertial. We describe analytically the motion of a small floating particle in a small-amplitude wave and show that the drift appears as a second order effect in wave amplitude. We confirm experimentally that indeed the clustering rate is proportional to the square of the wave amplitude. In the case of surface random waves we show experimentally that the inertial effects significantly change the statistics of floater distribution on a liquid surface. The analysis of particle concentration moments and probability distribution functions shows that particle concentrate on a multi-fractal set with caustics.



© EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag 2007


What is OpenURL?

The OpenURL standard is a protocol for transmission of metadata describing the resource that you wish to access. An OpenURL link contains article metadata and directs it to the OpenURL server of your choice. The OpenURL server can provide access to the resource and also offer complementary services (specific search engine, export of references...). The OpenURL link can be generated by different means.
  • If your librarian has set up your subscription with an OpenURL resolver, OpenURL links appear automatically on the abstract pages.
  • You can define your own OpenURL resolver with your EDPS Account. In this case your choice will be given priority over that of your library.
  • You can use an add-on for your browser (Firefox or I.E.) to display OpenURL links on a page (see http://www.openly.com/openurlref/). You should disable this module if you wish to use the OpenURL server that you or your library have defined.