Abstract
The spatio-temporal evolution of an active scalar in surface-tension-driven flow is studied using a recently developed self-consistent nonlinear model. In the one-dimensional case an exact similarity solution is found which, depending on the initial conditions, describes the spreading or the finite-time collapse of the scalar. The time-dependence of the width of the surfactant distribution can be qualitatively understood from basic fluid-dynamical principles. The possibility of experimental verification of the theoretical prediction is briefly discussed.
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