695 research outputs found
Ripples in Tapped or Blown Powder
We observe ripples forming on the surface of a granular powder in a container
submitted from below to a series of brief and distinct shocks. After a few
taps, the pattern turns out to be stable against any further shock of the same
amplitude. We find experimentally that the characteristic wavelength of the
pattern is proportional to the amplitude of the shocks. Starting from
consideration involving Darcy's law for air flow through the porous granulate
and avalanche properties, we build up a semi-quantitative model which fits
satisfactorily the set of experimental observations as well as a couple of
additional experiments.Comment: 7 pages, four postscript figures, submitted PRL 11/19/9
Secondary Instabilities of Surface Waves on Viscous Fluids in the Faraday Instability
Secondary instabilities of Faraday waves show three regimes: (1) As seen
previously, low-viscosity (nu) fluids destabilize first into squares. At higher
driving accelerations a, squares show low-frequency modulations corresponding
to the motion of phase defects, while theory predicts a stationary transverse
amplitude modulation (TAM). (2) High-nu fluids destabilize first to stripes.
Stripes then show an oscillatory TAM whose frequency is incommensurate with the
driving frequency. At higher a, the TAM undergoes a phase instability. At still
higher a, edge dislocations form and fluid droplets are ejected. (3)
Intermediate-nu fluids show a complex coexistence of squares and stripes, as
well as stationary and oscillatory TAM instabilities of the stripes.Comment: REVTEX, with 3 separate uuencoded figures, to appear in Europhys.
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Capillary wave turbulence on a spherical fluid surface in low gravity
We report the observation of capillary wave turbulence on the surface of a
fluid layer in a low-gravity environment. In such conditions, the fluid covers
all the internal surface of the spherical container which is submitted to
random forcing. The surface wave amplitude displays power-law spectrum over two
decades in frequency, corresponding to wavelength from to a few . This
spectrum is found in roughly good agreement with wave turbulence theory. Such a
large scale observation without gravity waves has never been reached during
ground experiments. When the forcing is periodic, two-dimensional spherical
patterns are observed on the fluid surface such as subharmonic stripes or
hexagons with wavelength satisfying the capillary wave dispersion relation
Heap Formation in Granular Media
Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we find the formation of heaps in
a system of granular particles contained in a box with oscillating bottom and
fixed sidewalls. The simulation includes the effect of static friction, which
is found to be crucial in maintaining a stable heap. We also find another
mechanism for heap formation in systems under constant vertical shear. In both
systems, heaps are formed due to a net downward shear by the sidewalls. We
discuss the origin of net downward shear for the vibration induced heap.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures available upon request, Plain TeX, HLRZ-101/9
Introduction to Magnetic Monopoles
One of the most basic properties of magnetism is that a magnet always has two
poles, north and south, which cannot be separated into isolated poles, i.e.,
magnetic monopoles. However, there are strong theoretical arguments why
magnetic monopoles should exist. In spite of extensive searches they have not
been found, but they have nevertheless played a central role in our
understanding of physics at the most fundamental level.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures. To be published in Contemporary Physic
Persistent holes in a fluid
We observe stable holes in a vertically oscillated 0.5 cm deep aqueous
suspension of cornstarch for accelerations a above 10g. Holes appear only if a
finite perturbation is applied to the layer. Holes are circular and
approximately 0.5 cm wide, and can persist for more than 10^5 cycles. Above a =
17g the rim of the hole becomes unstable producing finger-like protrusions or
hole division. At higher acceleration, the hole delocalizes, growing to cover
the entire surface with erratic undulations. We find similar behavior in an
aqueous suspension of glass microspheres.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure
Faraday Instability in a Surface-Frozen Liquid
Faraday surface instability measurements of the critical acceleration, a_c,
and wavenumber, k_c, for standing surface waves on a tetracosanol (C_24H_50)
melt exhibit abrupt changes at T_s=54degC above the bulk freezing temperature.
The measured variations of a_c and k_c vs. temperature and driving frequency
are accounted for quantitatively by a hydrodynamic model, revealing a change
from a free-slip surface flow, generic for a free liquid surface (T>T_s), to a
surface-pinned, no-slip flow, characteristic of a flow near a wetted solid wall
(T < T_s). The change at T_s is traced to the onset of surface freezing, where
the steep velocity gradient in the surface-pinned flow significantly increases
the viscous dissipation near the surface.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Physical Review Letters (in press
Kink-induced transport and segregation in oscillated granular layers
We use experiments and molecular dynamics simulations of vertically
oscillated granular layers to study horizontal particle segregation induced by
a kink (a boundary between domains oscillating out of phase). Counter-rotating
convection rolls carry the larger particles in a bidisperse layer along the
granular surface to a kink, where they become trapped. The convection
originates from avalanches that occur inside the layer, along the interface
between solidified and fluidized grains. The position of a kink can be
controlled by modulation of the container frequency, making possible systematic
harvesting of the larger particles.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Periodically kicked turbulence
Periodically kicked turbulence is theoretically analyzed within a mean field
theory. For large enough kicking strength A and kicking frequency f the
Reynolds number grows exponentially and then runs into some saturation. The
saturation level can be calculated analytically; different regimes can be
observed. For large enough Re we find the saturation level to be proportional
to A*f, but intermittency can modify this scaling law. We suggest an
experimental realization of periodically kicked turbulence to study the
different regimes we theoretically predict and thus to better understand the
effect of forcing on fully developed turbulence.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Phys. Rev. E., in pres
An analytical stability theory for Faraday waves and the observation of the harmonic surface response
We present an analytical stability theory for the onset of the Faraday
instability, applying over a wide frequency range between shallow water gravity
and deep water capillary waves. For sufficiently thin fluid layers the surface
is predicted to occur in harmonic rather than subharmonic resonance with the
forcing. An experimental confirmation of this result is given. PACS: 47.20.Ma,
47.20.Gv, 47.15.CbComment: 10 pages (LaTeX-file), 3 figures (Postscript) Submitted for
publicatio
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