Observation of Gravity-Capillary Wave Turbulence

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Abstract
We report the observation of the crossover between gravity and capillary wave turbulence on the surface of mercury. The probability density functions of the turbulent wave height are found to be asymmetric and thus non-Gaussian. The surface wave height displays power-law spectra in both regimes. In the capillary region, the exponent is in fair agreement with weak turbulence theory. In the gravity region, it depends on the forcing parameters. This can be related to the finite size of the container. In addition, the scaling of those spectra with the mean energy flux is found in disagreement with weak turbulence theory for both regimes.