Two problems involving breakup of a liquid film

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Jens Eggers, Bristol University
Fine Hall 214

Understanding the breakup of a liquid film is complicated by the fact that there is no obvious instability driving breakup: surface tension favors a film of uniform thickness over a deformed one. Here, we identify two mechanisms driving a film toward (infinite time) pinch-off. In the first problem, we show how the rise of a bubble is arrested in a narrow tube, on account of the lubricating film pinching off. In the second problem, breakup of a free liquid film is driven by a strong temperature gradient across the pinch region.