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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/12831
Nonlinear Saffman-Taylor instability
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We show, both theoretically and experimentally, that the interface between two viscous fluids in a Hele-Shaw cell can be nonlinearly unstable before the Saffman-Taylor linear instability point is reached. We identify the family of exact elastica solutions [Nye et al., Eur. J. Phys. 5, 73 (1984)] as the unstable branch of the corresponding subcritical bifurcation which ends up at a topological singularity defined by interface pinchoff. We devise an experimental procedure to prepare arbitrary initial conditions in a Hele-Shaw cell. This is used to test the proposed bifurcation scenario and quantitatively asses its practical relevance.
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ALVAREZ LACALLE, Enrique, ORTÍN, Jordi and CASADEMUNT I VIADER, Jaume. Nonlinear Saffman-Taylor instability. Physical Review Letters. 2004. Vol. 92, num. 5, pags. 054501-1-054501-4. ISSN 0031-9007. [consulted: 11 of October of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/12831