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

Self-similar breakup of polymeric threads as described by the Oldroyd-B model

When a drop of fluid containing long, flexible polymers breaks up, it forms threads of almost constant thickness, whose size decreases exponentially in time. Using an Oldroyd-B fluid as a model, we show that the thread profile, rescaled by the thread thickness, converges to a similarity solution. Using the correspondence between viscoelastic fluids and non-linear elasticity, we derive similarity equations for the full three-dimensional axisymmetric flow field in the limit that the viscosity of the solvent fluid can be neglected. A conservation law balancing pressure and elastic energy permits to calculate the thread thickness exactly. The explicit form of the velocity and stress fields can be deduced from a solution of the similarity equations. Results are validated by detailed comparison with numerical simulations