Reverse undercompressive shock structures in driven thin film flow

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We show experimental evidence of a new structure involving an undercompressive and reverse undercompressive shock for draining films driven by a surface tension gradient against gravity. The reverse undercompressive shock is unstable to transverse perturbations while the leading undercompressive shock is stable. Depending on the pinch-off film thickness, as controlled by the meniscus, either a trailing rarefaction wave or a compressive shock separates from the reverse undercompressive shock.