On the dynamics of bubbles in boiling water

TL;DR

This paper studies the complex behavior of bubbles in boiling water using laser scattering, revealing non-exponential, heavy-tailed dynamics and validating a simple model that captures these phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a novel empirical analysis of bubble dynamics in boiling water and validates a minimalist model that accurately reproduces observed heavy-tailed distributions.

Findings

Return interval distribution is heavy-tailed

Empirical data deviates from exponential distribution

Model agrees well with experimental results

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of many interacting bubbles in boiling water by using a laser scattering experiment. Specifically, we analyze the temporal variations of a laser intensity signal which passed through a sample of boiling water. Our empirical results indicate that the return interval distribution of the laser signal does not follow an exponential distribution; contrariwise, a heavy-tailed distribution has been found. Additionally, we compare the experimental results with those obtained from a minimalist phenomenological model, finding a good agreement.