Spreading fronts and fluctuations in sedimentation

A diffuse interface or front at the top of the suspension is investigated experimentally and numerically. The width of the front is found to grow linearly in time, mainly due to a polydispersity of particle size in the very dilute experiments, and due only to fluctuations in particle density in the simulations. Away from the front, the fluctuations in the particle velocities are found not to decay. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.