Exploring the Topological Correlations within Two-Dimensional Foam Structures

Abstract

This work presents experimental findings on the stability of a 2D foam confined in a hard cell. The foam's lifetime before breakage increases with bubble size, and introducing a defect stabilizes the foam for a few days. Bubble deformations induced by the defects contribute to this stabilization. The study also investigates disorder evolution around defects in a hexagonal lattice. Topological class distributions show an increase in their second moment with some cases showing late-stage decrease. The findings support simulations and offer insights into coarsening and transient phenomena in foams. The research investigates the topological correlations and variations from expected patterns, emphasizing the impact of the particular foam model employed. In addition, the results provide qualitative support for scaling states and suggest generality in defect behavior, and indicate a significant deviation from the expected stability patterns predicted by existing models.