Odd Capillarity

Abstract

Capillarity governs interfacial relaxation and hydrodynamic motion in binary fluids through parity-even mechanical stresses. Here, we introduce \emph{odd capillarity}, a parity-breaking interfacial mechanical response, by incorporating a symmetric, nonvariational, parity-odd capillary stress into the Cahn--Hilliard--Navier--Stokes (CHNS) equations. This stress generates forces along interfaces, transverse to ordinary capillary forces, and performs mechanical work that is not balanced by changes in the composition free energy. Direct numerical simulations reveal that odd capillarity arrests domain coarsening while sustaining turbulent fluid motion without a conventional inertial energy cascade, as energy injection is predominantly balanced by viscous dissipation. In asymmetric mixtures, odd capillarity driven deformation and breakup interrupt droplet growth, producing dynamically arrested emulsions with composition hyperuniformity and suppressed large-scale vorticity fluctuations. These findings establish odd capillarity as a distinct interfacial mechanism for controlling phase separation and sustaining nonequilibrium fluid motion.