Dresden 2006 – scientific programme

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DY: Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 35: Ferro Fluids / Liquid Chrystals

DY 35.3: Talk

Wednesday, March 29, 2006, 15:00–15:15, SCH 251

Pattern formation in the Faraday instability on a ferrofluid in a vertical magnetic field — •Vladislav Mekhonoshin — Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität des Saarlandes, PF 151150, Saarbrücken

The parametrical generation of standing waves on a surface of a liquid is well known as Faraday instability since its discovery in 1831. Ferrofluids are colloidal dispersions of single-domain particles in an ordinary (non-magnetic) carrier liquid. Thus, ferrofluids combine the ability to flow with strong interaction with magnetic field. This allows one to use magnetic field to control the motion of a ferrofluid, and in particular, the pattern formation in the Faraday instability.

In this work, an amplitude equation for the Faraday instability is derived following the standard procedure, described in [1]. The amplitude equation is used to investigate the pattern formation in the system and to explain the experimental observations.