title: Analysis of the early stage of coalescence of helium drops.
abstract: We analyze the growth of the neck that forms between two liquid drops that have come into contact. The analysis is for a fluid in which the velocity of each point on the surface is proportional to the local curvature and directed normal to the interface. For this system, we show that the radius of the neck is proportional to t(1/3), where the time t is measured from the moment at which coalescence commences. We are able to find a simple expression for the shape of the interface in the vicinity of the neck.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
authors.forename: Humphrey J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Maris