title: Suppression of dripping from a ceiling.
abstract: An isothermal layer suspended from a surface is gravitationally (Rayleigh-Taylor) unstable. We find that, when a vertical temperature difference DeltaT above a critical value (DeltaT)(c) is imposed across the liquid-gas layer system (heated from below), the restoring force provided by the temperature-dependent surface tension (thermocapillarity) can stabilize the layer. Our measurements of the most unstable wave number for DeltaT<(DeltaT)(c) agree well with our linear stability analysis. The instability occurs at long wavelengths: the most unstable wavelength at (DeltaT)(c) is infinite.
authors.affiliation: Center for Nonlinear Dynamics and Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Burgess
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Juel
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Swift
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Swinney