Saffman–Taylor instability
E167641
The Saffman–Taylor instability is a fluid dynamics phenomenon in which a less viscous fluid penetrating a more viscous one in a confined geometry leads to finger-like interfacial patterns, often called viscous fingering.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Saffman–Taylor instability canonical | 4 |
| Laplacian growth | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1463725 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Saffman–Taylor instability Context triple: [Philip G. Saffman, hasNotableConcept, Saffman–Taylor instability]
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A.
Callahan flow
Callahan flow is a notable basaltic lava flow associated with Medicine Lake Volcano in northern California, formed during one of its relatively recent volcanic eruptions.
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B.
Stokes flow
Stokes flow is a type of fluid motion dominated by viscous forces and characterized by very low Reynolds numbers, where inertial effects are negligible.
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C.
Smoluchowski coagulation equation
The Smoluchowski coagulation equation is a fundamental integro-differential equation in statistical physics that models how particles undergoing random collisions aggregate over time into larger clusters.
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D.
An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics
An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics is a classic graduate-level textbook that rigorously develops the theoretical foundations of fluid mechanics and has become a standard reference in the field.
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E.
Navier–Stokes equations
The Navier–Stokes equations are fundamental partial differential equations in fluid mechanics that describe how the velocity field of a fluid evolves under forces like pressure and viscosity.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Saffman–Taylor instability Target entity description: The Saffman–Taylor instability is a fluid dynamics phenomenon in which a less viscous fluid penetrating a more viscous one in a confined geometry leads to finger-like interfacial patterns, often called viscous fingering.
-
A.
Callahan flow
Callahan flow is a notable basaltic lava flow associated with Medicine Lake Volcano in northern California, formed during one of its relatively recent volcanic eruptions.
-
B.
Stokes flow
Stokes flow is a type of fluid motion dominated by viscous forces and characterized by very low Reynolds numbers, where inertial effects are negligible.
-
C.
Smoluchowski coagulation equation
The Smoluchowski coagulation equation is a fundamental integro-differential equation in statistical physics that models how particles undergoing random collisions aggregate over time into larger clusters.
-
D.
An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics
An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics is a classic graduate-level textbook that rigorously develops the theoretical foundations of fluid mechanics and has become a standard reference in the field.
-
E.
Navier–Stokes equations
The Navier–Stokes equations are fundamental partial differential equations in fluid mechanics that describe how the velocity field of a fluid evolves under forces like pressure and viscosity.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
fluid dynamics phenomenon
ⓘ
hydrodynamic instability ⓘ interfacial instability ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | viscous fingering ⓘ |
| boundaryCondition |
continuity of normal stress at the interface
ⓘ
surface tension at the interface ⓘ |
| characterizedBy |
Péclet number in miscible analogues
ⓘ
dimensionless capillary number ⓘ |
| dependsOn |
gap thickness in a Hele–Shaw cell
ⓘ
injection rate of the displacing fluid ⓘ interfacial tension ⓘ viscosity ratio of the two fluids ⓘ |
| discoveredBy |
Geoffrey Ingram Taylor
ⓘ
linked to:
G. I. Taylor
Philip Geoffrey Saffman ⓘ
linked to:
Philip G. Saffman
|
| field |
fluid dynamics
ⓘ
hydrodynamics ⓘ |
| governingEquations |
Darcy’s law
ⓘ
Laplace equation for pressure in each fluid ⓘ incompressible Stokes flow approximation ⓘ |
| hasApplication |
CO2 sequestration in porous formations
ⓘ
chromatography ⓘ enhanced oil recovery ⓘ groundwater contamination spreading ⓘ microfluidics ⓘ pattern formation studies ⓘ |
| hasCause |
displacement of a more viscous fluid by a less viscous fluid
ⓘ
viscosity contrast between two immiscible fluids ⓘ |
| hasEffect |
formation of finger-like patterns at the fluid interface
ⓘ
growth of viscous fingers ⓘ interfacial pattern formation ⓘ |
| isTypeOf |
interfacial pattern-forming instability
ⓘ
viscous instability ⓘ |
| leadsTo | fractal-like displacement patterns in porous media ⓘ |
| namedAfter |
Geoffrey Ingram Taylor
ⓘ
linked to:
G. I. Taylor
Philip Geoffrey Saffman ⓘ
linked to:
Philip G. Saffman
|
| occursIn |
Hele–Shaw cell
ⓘ
confined geometry ⓘ porous media ⓘ radial injection flows ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Laplacian growth
ⓘ
linked to:
Stefan problem
Mullins–Sekerka instability ⓘ Rayleigh–Taylor instability ⓘ diffusion-limited aggregation ⓘ |
| stabilizedBy |
increasing surface tension
ⓘ
reducing injection rate ⓘ reversing viscosity contrast ⓘ |
| studiedUsing |
Hele–Shaw experiments
ⓘ
linked to:
Hele–Shaw cell
linear stability analysis ⓘ numerical simulations of Darcy flow ⓘ |
| yearProposed | 1958 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Saffman–Taylor instability Description of subject: The Saffman–Taylor instability is a fluid dynamics phenomenon in which a less viscous fluid penetrating a more viscous one in a confined geometry leads to finger-like interfacial patterns, often called viscous fingering.
Referenced by (5)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.