  The standing surface waves in a rectangular vertically oscillating vessel
filled with water (Faraday waves) in the presence of a floating elastic sheet
are studied experimentally and theoretically. The threshold amplitude of the
instability and the wavelength of the patterns are measured as a function of
the frequency. A theoretical model based on Hamiltonian method is used to
describe the system. Using the experimental attenuation coefficients, we see a
very good agreement between the theory and the experiment for threshold
amplitude. Also, the dispersion relation obtained from the theory is consistent
with experiments.
