The pinch-off of an air bubble from an underwater nozzle ends in a singularity with a remarkable sensitivity to a variety of perturbations. I report on experiments that break both the axial (i.e., vertical) and azimuthal symmetry of the singularity formation. The density of the inner gas influences the axial asymmetry of the neck near pinch-off. For denser gases, flow through the neck late in c...

a Institut für Erdund Umweltwissenschaften, and DFG Leibniz Center for Surface Processes and Climate Studies, Universität Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany b Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey c Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Rome, Italy d Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingeneria (IGAG-CNR), Rome, I...

I would like to thank Harry Swinney for providing invaluable guidance throughout this project. He has made this project the high point of my undergraduate education, and it has been an honor to work with such an accomplished physicist. I thank Matthew Thrasher for helping me in the lab on a daily basis. He has taught me the ins and outs of the entire experimental process showing great insight a...