How waves affect the distribution of particles that float on a liquid surface

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Dec 15;97(24):244501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.244501. Epub 2006 Dec 11.

Abstract

We study experimentally how waves affect the distribution of particles that float on a liquid surface. We show that clustering of small particles in a standing wave is a nonlinear effect with the clustering time decreasing as the square of the wave amplitude. In a set of random waves, we show that small floaters concentrate on a multifractal set with caustics.