Innovative water wave structures offer new tools for particle manipulation

An international team of scientists, including researchers from the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), has unlocked the secrets of controlling complex wave patterns – such as wave vortices and topological polarisation textures (skyrmions) – on a water surface, opening up exciting new possibilities in hydrodynamics and microfluidics. These structures, previously explored in light and sound waves, have broad applications from quantum information to astrophysics, and now they appear in the realm of water.

Topological wave forms are notable for their robustness, making them resistant to small perturbations, and for remarkable dynamical properties. In this groundbreaking research, published in Nature, such structures were created in gravity water-surface waves of a centimetre scale by an international team of scientist from Fudan University (China), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), RIKEN (Japan), and Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC).

Beyond the beauty of these phenomena, the team demonstrated their practical power: the ability to manipulate (namely, to trap, propel, and spin) floating particles of different sizes (from millimetre-size particles to a ping-pong ball). “This provides a water-wave counterpart to optical and acoustic trapping and manipulations, which are of tremendous importance for the control of small particles ranging from atoms to biological micro-organisms” said Konstantin Bliokh, Ikerbasque Research Professor at DIPC.

The research opens a new frontier in hydrodynamic manipulation, where topological waveforms can revolutionise existing methods in particle handling. From biotechnological applications to industrial processes, the integration of these techniques could lead to significant advances.