Superwalking Droplets

ORAL

Abstract

A \textit{walker} is a droplet of liquid that can self-propel on the free surface of a vibrating bath of the same liquid through feedback between the droplet and its wave field. We have studied walking droplets in the presence of two driving frequencies and have observed a new class of walking droplets, which we coin \textit{superwalkers}. Superwalkers may be more than double the size of the largest walkers, may travel at more than triple the speed of the fastest ones, and enable a plethora of novel multi-droplet behaviors. Physical insights from numerical simulations into the emergence of the superwalking behavior are also discussed.

*Australian Government RTP Scholarship to R.V., ARC Future Fellowship Project No. FT180100020 (T.S.)

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Authors

  • Rahil Valani

    • School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia

  • Anja Slim

    • School of Mathematics and School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia

  • Tapio Simula

    • Centre for Quantum and Optical Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne 3122, Australia