ShockWaves in Capillary Collapse of Colloids: A Model System for Two-Dimensional Screened Newtonian Gravity

Using Brownian dynamics simulations, density functional theory, and analytical perturbation theory we study the collapse of a patch of interfacially trapped, micrometer-sized colloidal particles, driven by long-ranged capillary attraction. This attraction is formally analogous to two-dimensional (2D) screened Newtonian gravity with the capillary length (lambda) over cap as the screening length. Whereas the limit (lambda) over cap -> infinity corresponds to the global collapse of a self-gravitating fluid, for finite (lambda) over cap we predict theoretically and observe in simulations a ringlike density peak at the outer rim of a disclike patch, moving as an inbound shock wave. Possible experimental realizations are discussed.