Satellites in the inviscid breakup of bubbles.

ABSTRACT

In this Letter, we stress the essential role played by gas inertia in the breakup of gas bubbles. Our results reveal that, whenever the gas to liquid density ratio Lambda=rhog/rhol is different from zero, tiny satellite bubbles may be formed as a result of the large gas velocities that are reached close to pinch-off. Moreover, we provide a closed expression for the characteristic satellite diameter, which decreases when decreasing Lambda and which shows order of magnitude agreement with the micron-sized satellite bubbles observed experimentally.