Interface dynamics: Mechanisms of stabilization and destabilization and structure of flow fields

Abstract

Interfacial mixing and transport are nonequilibrium processes coupling kinetic to macroscopic scales. They occur in fluids, plasmas, and materials over celestial events to atoms. Grasping their fundamentals can advance a broad range of disciplines in science, mathematics, and engineering. This paper focuses on the long-standing classic problem of stability of a phase boundary—a fluid interface that has a mass flow across it. We briefly review the recent advances in theoretical and experimental studies, develop the general theoretical framework directly linking the microscopic interfacial transport to the macroscopic flow fields, discover mechanisms of interface stabilization and destabilization that have not been discussed before for both inertial and accelerated dynamics, and chart perspectives for future research.