Topological and geometrical disorder correlate robustly in two-dimensional foams

Catherine Quilliet (1) , Shirin Ataei Talebi (1) , David Rabaud (1) , Jos Kaefer (1) , Simon Cox (2) , François Graner (1)

1 LSP - Laboratoire de Spectrométrie Physique
2 IMAPCS - Institute of Mathematical, Physics and Computer Sciences

A 2D foam can be characterised by its distribution of bubble areas, and of number of sides. Both distributions have an average and a width (standard deviation). There are therefore at least two very different ways to characterise the disorder. The former is a geometrical measurement, while the latter is purely topological. We discuss the common points and differences between both quantities. We measure them in a foam which is sheared, so that bubbles move past each other and the foam is ``shuffled" (a notion we discuss). Both quantities are strongly correlated; in this case (only) it thus becomes sufficient to use either one or the other to characterize the foam disorder. We suggest applications to the analysis of other systems, including biological tissues.

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]

Catherine Quilliet, Shirin Ataei Talebi, David Rabaud, Jos Kaefer, Simon Cox, et al.. Topological and geometrical disorder correlate robustly in two-dimensional foams. 2008. ⟨hal-00259402⟩