Wetting of ring-shaped surface domains

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Abstract
Wetting of ring-shaped surface domains is studied both theoretically and experi- mentally. The liquid channels covering these domains exhibit a volume-induced morphological transition from a homogeneous to a bulge state. The continuous symmetry of the low-volume channels is spontaneously broken by the transition to the high-volume regime. Therefore, an angular displacement of the bulge does not cost any (free) energy and the corresponding inter- face deformation represents a "Goldstone boson" which should be observable for domains in the micrometer regime.
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