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