1202.0051 (Ceyda Sanlı et al.)

From antinode clusters to node clusters: The concentration dependent
transition of floaters on a standing Faraday wave    [PDF]

Ceyda Sanlı, Detlef Lohse, Devaraj van der Meer

A hydrophilic floating sphere that is denser than water drifts to an
amplitude maximum (antinode) of a surface standing wave. A few identical
floaters therefore organize into antinode clusters. However, beyond a
transitional value of the floater concentration $\phi$, we observe that the
same spheres spontaneously accumulate at the nodal lines, completely inverting
the self-organized particle pattern on the wave. From a potential energy
estimate we show that at low $\phi$ antinode clusters are energetically
favorable over nodal ones and how this situation reverses at high $\phi$, in
agreement with experiment.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.0051