The Dispersive Hydrodynamics Laboratory is pleased to announce its聽second experimental paper, published in Physical Review Letters.聽The paper showcases聽the聽novel hydrodynamic interaction聽between聽a localized solitary wave with a larger hydrodynamic structure聽such as rarefaction waves or dispersive shock waves, the latter also聽 previously published in Physical Review Letters. See the news article.聽 Both solitary wave transmission through and trapping in the large hydrodynamic wave are theoretically determined聽and validated by experiments done in the laboratory on the viscous conduit system. Such phenomena can occur in聽other physical systems such as geophysical fluids (ocean and atmospheric waves), superfluids (Bose-Einstein condensates), and intense light propagation (nonlinear optics).聽 Therefore, this theory could have a major impact on our understanding of a variety of other physical聽systems.
The theoretical work was done jointly by Mark Hoefer and Michelle Maiden of CU Boulder's Dispersive Hydrodynamics Lab in collaboration with Gennady El of the University of Loughborough.聽聽The experimental work was done by Lab members Dalton Anderson and Nevil Franco under the supervision of Michelle Maiden.