HBT shape analysis with q-cumulants

Taking up and extending earlier suggestions, we show how two- and threedimensional shapes of second-order HBT correlations can be described in a multivariate Edgeworth expansion around gaussian ellipsoids, with expansion coefficients, identified as the cumulants of pair momentum difference q, acting as shape parameters. Off-diagonal terms dominate both the character and magnitude of shapes. Cumulants can be measured directly and so the shape analysis has no need for fitting.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures for a total of 29 subfigs, revtex4. Typos corrected, three missing terms added, minor text change

Inviscid coalescence of drops

We study the coalescence of two drops of an ideal fluid driven by surface tension. The velocity of approach is taken to be zero and the dynamical effect of the outer fluid (usually air) is neglected. Our approximation is expected to be valid on scales larger than $\ell_{\nu} = \rho\nu^2/\sigma$, which is $10 nm$ for water. Using a high-precision boundary integral method, we show that the walls of the thin retracting sheet of air between the drops reconnect in finite time to form a toroidal enclosure. After the initial reconnection, retraction starts again, leading to a rapid sequence of enclosures. Averaging over the discrete events, we find the minimum radius of the liquid bridge connecting the two drops to scale like $r_b \propto t^{1/2}$

Singularities in cascade models of the Euler equation

The formation of singularities in the three-dimensional Euler equation is investigated. This is done by restricting the number of Fourier modes to a set which allows only for local interactions in wave number space. Starting from an initial large-scale energy distribution, the energy rushes towards smaller scales, forming a universal front independent of initial conditions. The front results in a singularity of the vorticity in finite time, and has scaling form as function of the time difference from the singularity. Using a simplified model, we compute the values of the exponents and the shape of the front analytically. The results are in good agreement with numerical simulations.Comment: 33 pages (REVTeX) including eps-figures, Stylefile here.st