  The elementary topological T1 process in a two-dimensional foam corresponds
to the "flip" of one soap film with respect to the geometrical constraints.
  From a mechanical point of view, this T1 process is an elementary relaxation
process through which the entire structure of an out-of-equilibrium foam
evolves. The dynamics of this elementary relaxation process has been poorly
investigated and is generally neglected during simulations of foams. We study
both experimentally and theoretically the T1 dynamics in a dry two-dimensional
foam. We show that the dynamics is controlled by the surface viscoelastic
properties of the soap films (surface shear plus dilatational viscosity, ms+k,
and Gibbs elasticity e), and is independent of the shear viscosity of the bulk
liquid. Moreover, our approach illustrates that the dynamics of T1 relaxation
process provides a convenient tool for measuring the surface rheological
properties: we obtained e = 32+/-8 mN/m and ms+k = 1.3+/-0.7 mPa.m.s for SDS,
and e = 65+/-12 mN/m and ms+k = 31+/-12 mPa.m.s for BSA, in good agreement with
values reported in the literature.
