Viscous shocks in Hele-Shaw flow and Stokes phenomena of the Painleve I transcendent

In Hele-Shaw flows at vanishing surface tension, the boundary of a viscous fluid develops cusp-like singularities. In recent papers [1, 2] we have showed that singularities trigger viscous shocks propagating through the viscous fluid. Here we show that the weak solution of the Hele-Shaw problem describing viscous shocks is equivalent to a semiclassical approximation of a special real solution of the Painleve I equation. We argue that the Painleve I equation provides an integrable deformation of the Hele-Shaw problem which describes flow passing through singularities. In this interpretation shocks appear as Stokes level-lines of the Painleve linear problem.Comment: A more detailed derivation is include

Bubble break-off in Hele-Shaw flows : Singularities and integrable structures

Bubbles of inviscid fluid surrounded by a viscous fluid in a Hele-Shaw cell can merge and break-off. During the process of break-off, a thinning neck pinches off to a universal self-similar singularity. We describe this process and reveal its integrable structure: it is a solution of the dispersionless limit of the AKNS hierarchy. The singular break-off patterns are universal, not sensitive to details of the process and can be seen experimentally. We briefly discuss the dispersive regularization of the Hele-Shaw problem and the emergence of the Painlev\'e II equation at the break-off.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures; typo correcte

Interface dynamics in Hele-Shaw flows with centrifugal forces. Preventing cusp singularities with rotation

A class of exact solutions of Hele-Shaw flows without surface tension in a rotating cell is reported. We show that the interplay between injection and rotation modifies drastically the scenario of formation of finite-time cusp singularities. For a subclass of solutions, we show that, for any given initial condition, there exists a critical rotation rate above which cusp formation is prevented. We also find an exact sufficient condition to avoid cusps simultaneously for all initial conditions. This condition admits a simple interpretation related to the linear stability problem.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Unstable fingering patterns of Hele-Shaw flows as a dispersionless limit of the KdV hierarchy

We show that unstable fingering patterns of two dimensional flows of viscous fluids with open boundary are described by a dispersionless limit of the KdV hierarchy. In this framework, the fingering instability is linked to a known instability leading to regularized shock solutions for nonlinear waves, in dispersive media. The integrable structure of the flow suggests a dispersive regularization of the finite-time singularities.Comment: Published versio

The singular perturbation of surface tension in Hele-Shaw flows

Morphological instabilities are common to pattern formation problems such as the non-equilibrium growth of crystals and directional solidification. Very small perturbations caused by noise originate convoluted interfacial patterns when surface tension is small. The generic mechanisms in the formation of these complex patterns are present in the simpler problem of a Hele-Shaw interface. Amid this extreme noise sensitivity, what is then the role played by small surface tension in the dynamic formation and selection of these patterns? What is the asymptotic behaviour of the interface in the limit as surface tension tends to zero? The ill-posedness of the zero-surface-tension problem and the singular nature of surface tension pose challenging difficulties in the investigation of these questions. Here, we design a novel numerical method that greatly reduces the impact of noise, and allows us to accurately capture and identify the singular contributions of extremely small surface tensions. The numerical method combines the use of a compact interface parametrization, a rescaling of the governing equations, and very high precision. Our numerical results demonstrate clearly that the zero-surface-tension limit is indeed singular. The impact of a surface-tension-induced complex singularity is revealed in detail. The singular effects of surface tension are first felt at the tip of the interface and subsequently spread around it. The numerical simulations also indicate that surface tension defines a length scale in the fingers developing in a later stage of the interface evolution