Equilibrium Configurations of the Charged Surface of a Conducting Liquid at a Finite Interelectrode Distance

The problem of determining equilibrium configurations of the free surface of a conducting liquid is considered with allowance for a finite interelectrode distance. The analogy is established between this electrostatic problem and that of finding the profile of a progressive capillary wave on the free surface of a liquid layer of a finite depth, which was solved by Kinnersley. This analogy allowed exact solutions to be obtained for the geometry of liquid electrodes, which expand the existing notions about the possible stationary states of the system.