Properties of surface wave trains excited by mass transfer through a liquid surface

In annular containers, various traveling periodic surface wave trains are generated in liquid layers during the absorption process of a miscible surface-active substance out of the vapor phase. Single and counter-rotating wave trains are observed. We here report on waves found to be dispersion-free associated to mostly longitudinal, dilational surface-tension-gradient-driven motions. We report on interactions of the wave crests and on modulations that lead to wave-number changes of the wave trains. The wave interactions show behavior typically known for solitons.