An analytical stability theory for Faraday waves and the observation of the harmonic surface response

Abstract

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