Pilot-wave dynamics in a harmonic potential: Quantization and stability of circular orbits

We present the results of a theoretical investigation of the dynamics of a droplet walking on a vibrating fluid bath under the influence of a harmonic potential. The walking droplet's horizontal motion is described by an integro-differential trajectory equation, which is found to admit steady o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Labousse, M., Oza, Anand Uttam, Perrard, S., Bush, John W. M.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mathematics
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101774
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7936-7256
Description
Summary:We present the results of a theoretical investigation of the dynamics of a droplet walking on a vibrating fluid bath under the influence of a harmonic potential. The walking droplet's horizontal motion is described by an integro-differential trajectory equation, which is found to admit steady orbital solutions. Predictions for the dependence of the orbital radius and frequency on the strength of the radial harmonic force field agree favorably with experimental data. The orbital quantization is rationalized through an analysis of the orbital solutions. The predicted dependence of the orbital stability on system parameters is compared with experimental data and the limitations of the model are discussed.