Size selection in viscoelastic emulsions under shear

We investigate the deformation of a dilute emulsion with a viscoelastic con tinuous phase under shear flow. Initially, polydisperse drops are deformed into thin cylinders. The breakup of these liquid cylinders appears to be su ppressed until they reach a certain width. The resulting ruptured drops are uniform along the length of the cylinder. As a control, we also study drop breakup for a Newtonian emulsion, at a similar viscosity ratio. In this ca se, there is no corresponding size selection for the cylinder radius or dau ghter drops.