arXiv subjects

Kyle I. McKee

Publications and source records attributed to Kyle I. McKee.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Observation of the Aharonov-Bohm Effect in Pilot-Wave Hydrodynamics

We report the results of an experimental study of an analog of the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect achieved with the hydrodynamic pilot-wave system. A walking droplet is confined to an annular cavity that encircles a shielded vortex, but lies outside its range of direct influence. While there is no vortex-induced flow in the immediate vicinity of the droplets, the vortex modifies the droplet's spatially extended pilot-wave field that guides its motion, producing a vortex-dependent bias in the droplet's orbital speed. High-speed tracking and delay-embedding reconstructions yield Wigner-like phase-space distributions for this hydrodynamic system that exhibits a rigid, flux-dependent translation, providing a force-free, gauge-like realization of an AB-type phase.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2024

Potential Flows with Electromagnetically-Induced Circulation in a Hele-Shaw Cell

In Hele-Shaw cells, pressure-driven viscous fluid motion between two closely-spaced plates gives rise to a two-dimensional potential flow with zero circulation. Here, we show how the introduction of electromagnetic effects enables the realization of potential flows with circulation. We present canonical Hele-Shaw experiments with circulation prescribed by the electromagnetic configuration, and rationalize the observed flows theoretically. We also draw an analogy between this new class of circulatory potential flows and a class of electrostatic systems.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2024

Waves beneath a drop levitating over a moving wall

In recent experiments, Sawaguchi et al. directly probed the lubrication layer of air beneath a droplet levitating inside a rotating cylindrical drum. For small rotation rates of the drum, the lubrication film beneath the drop adopted a steady shape, while at higher rotation rates, travelling waves propagated along the drop's lower surface with roughly half the wall velocity. We here rationalize the physical origin of these waves. We begin with a simplified model of the lubrication flow beneath the droplet, and examine the linear stability of this base state to perturbations of the Tollmien--Schlichting type. Our developments lead to the Orr-Sommerfeld equation (OSE), whose eigenvalues give the growth rates and phase speeds of the perturbations. By considering wavelengths long relative to the lubrication film thickness, we solve the OSE perturbatively and so deduce the wavelength and phase velocity of the most unstable mode. We find satisfactory agreement between experiment and theory over the parameter regime considered in the laboratory.

physics.flu-dyn↗