On the Capillary Problem for Compressible Fluids

Classical capillarity theory is based on a hypothesis that virtual motions of fluid particles distinct from those on a surface interface have no effect on the form of the interface. That hypothesis cannot be supported for a compressible fluid. A heuristic reasoning suggests that even small amounts of compressibility could have significant effect on surface behavior. In an earlier work, Finn took a partial account of compressibility, and formulated a variant of the classical capillarity equation for fluid surface height in a vertical capillary tube; he was led to a necessary condition for existence of a solution with prescribed mass in a tube closed at the bottom. For a circular tube, he proved that the condition also suffices, and that solutions are uniquely determined for any contact angle γ.