2019/04/10 by Nicolas Vandewalle, Vandewalle, Nicolas, Boris Filoux +3
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #74J15 #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Micro and Nano Robotics #Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1904.05778
openalex publication_date 2019/04/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A walking droplet possesses fascinating properties due to its peculiar wave/particle interaction. The self-propelling motion of such a droplet is driven by the Faraday instability triggered around the droplet at each impact. We studied in this article how such a droplet behaves in an annular cavity where a periodic pattern is placed underneath the liquid-air interface, altering the Faraday instability. We show that, while the annulus ensures a circular motion of the droplet, the periodic pattern affects the global droplet motion. Similarly to electromagnetic waves in photonic crystals, the average droplet speed nearly vanishes when the pattern has a characteristic length close to half the Faraday wavelength. This effect opens ways to design guides, reflectors, lattices and metamaterials for such macroscopic particles.