INTERFACE EQUATION AND VISCOSITY CONTRAST IN HELE-SHAW FLOW

We derive an integro-differential equation for the evolution of the interface separating two immiscible viscous fluids in a Hele-Shaw cell with a channel geometry, for arbitrary viscosity contrast. Our equation differs from a previous one obtained by a vortex-sheet formulation of the problem, in that the normal component of the interface velocity is formally decoupled from the gauge-dependent tangential part. The result is thus a closed integral equation for the normal velocity. We briefly comment on the advantages of such a formulation and implement an alternative computational algorithm based on it. Preliminary numerical results confirm a highly inefficient finger competition in the zero viscosity contrast limit.