Power-law singularities in gravity-capillary waves

Strongly driven waves break and lead to local singularities. Parametrically forced standing waves (Faraday waves) may break leading to a local power-l aw divergence on the free surface. We experimentally explore this state for its local structure, time dynamics and threshold for creation. A local ana lytical model for the surface height compares favorably with image sequence s taken of individual events. Copyright (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Scie nce B.V.