Axisymmetric solitary waves on the surface of a ferrofluid

Elise Bourdin (1) , Jean-Claude Bacri (1) , Eric Falcon (1)

1 MSC - Matière et Systèmes Complexes

We report the first observation of axisymmetric solitary waves on the surface of a cylindrical magnetic fluid layer surrounding a current-carrying metallic tube. According to the ratio between the magnetic and capillary forces, both elevation and depression solitary waves are observed with profiles in good agreement with theoretical predictions based on the magnetic analogue of the Korteweg-deVries equation. We also report the first measurements of the velocity and the dispersion relation of axisymmetric linear waves propagating on the cylindrical ferrofluid layer that are found in good agreement with theoretical predictions.

Mots clés: Solitary wave; soliton; ferrofluid; axisymmetric waves; KdV soliton; Korteweg-de Vries; experiment; magnetic waves; depression; elevation; dispersion relation; magnetic fluid

Domaines: Dynamique des Fluides [physics.flu-dyn]; Formation de Structures et Solitons [nlin.PS]; Autre [cond-mat.other]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Elise Bourdin, Jean-Claude Bacri, Eric Falcon. Axisymmetric solitary waves on the surface of a ferrofluid. Physical Review Letters, 2010, 104 (9), pp.094502. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.094502⟩. ⟨hal-00452882⟩