Liquid Surfaces with Chaotic Capillary Waves Exhibit an Effective Surface Tension.

The influence of chaotic capillary waves on the time-averaged shape of a liquid volume is studied experimentally and theoretically. In that context, a liquid film containing a stable hole is subjected to Faraday waves. The waves induce a shrinkage of the hole compared to the static film, which can be described using the Young-Laplace equation by incorporating an effective capillary length.