Spatiotemporal instability of an electrified falling film

The linear spatiotemporal response to an infinitesimal disturbance is analyzed for an electrified falling film based on the Orr-Sommerfeld boundary value problem. Four spatial branches are identified, which lose their spatial symmetry in the presence of an electric field. In addition, the absolute and convective instabilities are studied within the frameworks of the saddle point approach and the collision criterion. The collision criterion offers two unstable branches that characterize the exact range of the unstable wave packet that is diminished in the presence of an electric field. In contrast, the saddle point approach offers only one unstable branch. The associated unstable range of the wave packet is similar to that predicted by the collision criterion only when the electric field is enhanced. It is shown that the electrified falling film is convectively unstable.