Mathematik-Gebäude, Raum M614

It is shown that a solid homogeneous ball floating in symmetric capillary equilibrium in an infinite liquid bath in the absence of gravity cannot symmetrically be pushed deeper into the liquid. This phenomenon is discussed from the point of view of approximation of the infinite bath by cylindrical tanks of increasing radius. A singular perturbation appears in the limit of infinite radius, of a sort that seems not easy to reconcile with physical experience.

Prof. em. Robert Finn

Stanford University, Department of Mathematics, California, USA