The mysterious dichloromethane droplet, which refuses to sink in water and begins to spin

I received from Resonance Foundation an interesting link to article "Chemists baffled by droplet spiraling to its doom" telling about the strange behavior of droplets of dichloromethane (DCM) at the surface of water. DCM is heavier than water and one would expect it to sink down but it doesn't: it floats and starts to spin emitting smaller droplets from its boundary so that it eventually decays compeltely. This is like evaporation process said to resemble the behavior of spiral galaxy.

I could understand why the droplet floats - by creating a film acting as a boat - and Marangoni effect causing the droplet to decay by emitting smaller droplets (being due to the reduction of string tension at droplet water interface causing radial outwards directed tangential force).

But I could not understand how droplet could start to rotate. Where is the opposite angular momentum. Does water below the droplet rotate in opposite direction?

One strategy in TGD framework is to proceed in general manner.

1. Self-organization process is in question and the rotation could have interpretation as generation long length scale motion requiring long range correlations. Also the build-up of a "boat" as liquid layer coming from droplet allowing the rest of droplet to float instead of sinking to the water would be part of this process.
   
   
2. Energy feed is always involved with all self-organization processes. In TGD Universe one can ask whether self-organizing systems are analogous to living systems: see this.
   

   For living systems in TGD Universe the metabolic energy feed is needed to keep the distribution of subsystems with Planck constant h_eff=nh₀ larger than its standard value and responsible for long range quantum correlations. This because the larger the value of h_eff characterizing the phase of ordinary matter is, the larger the energy of the system is, and because h_eff tends to decrease spontaneouly. Phase of ordinary mattter with nonstandard value of h_eff has interpretation as dark matter.
   

   Quantum scales are typically proportional to h_eff and large value means long scale of quantum coherence at the level of magnetic body which serves as a "boss" of ordinary matter in master slave hierarchy. If so, dark matter in TGD Universe would be visible through self-organization processes: quantum coherence in long lengths cales would force self-organization and generation of long range correlations.
   
   

3. This picture would suggest that also now magnetic body carrying dark matter phases is present. Could the angular momentum opposite to that of the rotating droplet be assigned with the rotating dark matter at magnetic body? I have proposed analogous explanation for the spontaneous accelerration rotation in rottatin magnetic systems reported by Godin and Roschin: see this .
   

   It should be easy to kill this hypothesis: the alternative standard physics option is that it is in the liquid below the droplet so that it would rotate in opposite direction.
   
   

4. Where does the needed "metabolic" energy feed come from. The decay of the droplet means that its surface tension is reduced. Surface tension measures the surface energy density so that surface energy must be lost. Could part of this energy go to the self-organization as "metabolic" energy for magnetic body and for rotational. Part of energy would go to the radial motion of smaller droplets emanating from the droplet.
   
   
5. Surface tension is thought to be due to cohesive forces. In case of water and some other liquids hydrogen bonds would be responsible for them. London forces would be attractive interactions between dipoles of polarizable molecules and would contribute for polar molecules. Surface tension characterizes surface energy density and thus energy could come from this as the the droplet decays to smaller ones. But does this make sense?
   

   One can argue that this decay to smaller droplets increases surface area so that the process would not liberate energy but require it. The droplet floats by reducing its density (Arhimedes law). This increases its volume. Couls the emitted droplets have the original original density so that their volume would be smaller and surface area too. Could this reduces to total surface energy in the process? The rest would go to rotation?
   
   

In FB Wes Johnson suggested that water droplet could act as a propeller. The droplet indeed looks like propeller. Probably you mean that propeller property causes lift so that buoynancy would not be needed? This looks like a good idea. There would be two models. Propellor model and buoynancy model.

1. For the buoynancy model the expansion of the droplet could provide the needed buoyancy: the density of the droplet should become smaller than that of water. Droplet would generate a membrane serving as a boat. The droplet would expand and this expansion would store energy, which would be liberated. Where do the energy and angular momentum come from?
   
   
2. Both options lead to the same question. Were do energy angular momentum come? Could the energy and angular momentum come from water or from the flux tubes/sheets of the magnetic body of water as h_eff decreases and liberates energy? Flux tubes in water accompany hydrogen bonds and even long flux tubes could correspond to hydrogen bonds. Magnetic body of water would save the droplet from drowning!
   
   
3. This argument involves only energy. Entropy is also involved. I just wrote a little article about application of minimization of Gibbs energy G to water in TGD sense. One has Δ G=Δ H-T Δ S ≤ 0, H is enthalpy, the heat used or liberated. It is safest to have Δ S>0. If flux tubes in water shorten, long range order reduced to that in shorter length scale so that entropy is generated. This liberates also energy if long dark flux tubes behave like hydrogen bonds.
   
   

For a summary of earlier postings see Latest progress in TGD.

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