Droplets bouncing on a standing wave field

A liquid bath subject to a vertical vibration becomes unstable to standing surface waves at a critical vibrational acceleration known as the Faraday threshold. We examine the behavior of a millimetric droplet bouncing on the surface of a quasi-one-dimensional fluid channel above the Faraday threshold. We identify a sequence of bifurcations that occurs as the vibrational acceleration is increased progressively, ultimately leading to the erratic, diffusive motion of the droplet along the length of the channel. A simple theoretical model is presented.