Magnetic Soret effect: Application of the ferrofluid dynamics theory

The ferrofluid dynamics theory is applied to thermodiffusive problems in magnetic fluids in the presence of magnetic fields. The analytical form for the magnetic part of the chemical potential and the most general expression of the mass flux are given. By employing these results to experiments, global Soret coefficients in agreement with measurements are determined. Also an estimate for a hitherto unknown transport coefficient is made.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Dissipation in ferrofluids: Mesoscopic versus hydrodynamic theory

Part of the field dependent dissipation in ferrofluids occurs due to the rotational motion of the ferromagnetic grains relative to the viscous flow of the carrier fluid. The classical theoretical description due to Shliomis uses a mesoscopic treatment of the particle motion to derive a relaxation equation for the non-equilibrium part of the magnetization. Complementary, the hydrodynamic approach of Liu involves only macroscopic quantities and results in dissipative Maxwell equations for the magnetic fields in the ferrofluid. Different stress tensors and constitutive equations lead to deviating theoretical predictions in those situations, where the magnetic relaxation processes cannot be considered instantaneous on the hydrodynamic time scale. We quantify these differences for two situations of experimental relevance namely a resting fluid in an oscillating oblique field and the damping of parametrically excited surface waves. The possibilities of an experimental differentiation between the two theoretical approaches is discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, to appear in PR

Magnetization of rotating ferrofluids: the effect of polydispersity

The influence of polydispersity on the magnetization is analyzed in a nonequilibrium situation where a cylindrical ferrofluid column is enforced to rotate with constant frequency like a rigid body in a homogeneous magnetic field that is applied perpendicular to the cylinder axis. Then, the magnetization and the internal magnetic field are not longer parallel to each other and their directions differ from that of the applied magnetic field. Experimental results on the transverse magnetization component perpendicular to the applied field are compared and analyzed as functions of rotation frequency and field strength with different polydisperse Debye models that take into account the polydispersity in different ways and to a varying degree.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Journal of Physics

Capillary-gravity wave resistance in ordinary and magnetic fluids

Wave resistance is the drag force associated to the emission of waves by a moving disturbance at a fluid free surface. In the case of capillary-gravity waves it undergoes a transition from zero to a finite value as the speed of the disturbance is increased. For the first time an experiment is designed in order to obtain the wave resistance as a function of speed. The effect of viscosity is explored, and a magnetic fluid is used to extend the available range of critical speeds. The threshold values are in good agreement with the proposed theory. Contrary to the theoretical model, however, the measured wave resistance reveals a non monotonic speed dependence after the threshold.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Onset of Wave Drag due to Generation of Capillary-Gravity Waves by a Moving Object as a Critical Phenomenon

The onset of the {\em wave resistance}, via generation of capillary gravity waves, of a small object moving with velocity $V$, is investigated experimentally. Due to the existence of a minimum phase velocity $V_c$ for surface waves, the problem is similar to the generation of rotons in superfluid helium near their minimum. In both cases waves or rotons are produced at $V>V_c$ due to {\em Cherenkov radiation}. We find that the transition to the wave drag state is continuous: in the vicinity of the bifurcation the wave resistance force is proportional to $\sqrt{V-V_c}$ for various fluids.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure

Diffusion-jump model for the combined Brownian and Neel relaxation dynamics of ferrofluids in the presence of external fields and flow

Relaxation of suspended magnetic nanoparticles occurs via Brownian rotational diffusion of the particle as well as internal magnetization dynamics. The latter is often modeled by the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz equation, but its numerical treatment becomes prohibitively expensive in many practical applications due to a time-scale separation between fast, Larmor-type precession and slow, barrier-crossing dynamics. Here, a diffusion-jump model is proposed to take advantage of the time-scale separation and to approximate barrier-crossings as thermally activated jump processes that occur alongside rotational diffusion. The predictions of our diffusion-jump model are compared to reference results obtained by solving the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz equation coupled to rotational Brownian motion. Good agreement is found in the regime of high energy barriers where Neel relaxation can be considered a thermally activated rare event. While many works in the field have neglected N\'eel relaxation altogether, our approach opens the possibility to efficiently include Neel relaxation also into interacting many-particle models

Ferrofluids as thermal ratchets

Colloidal suspensions of ferromagnetic nano-particles, so-called ferrofluids, are shown to be suitable systems to demonstrate and investigate thermal ratchet behavior: By rectifying thermal fluctuations, angular momentum is transferred to a resting ferrofluid from an oscillating magnetic field without net rotating component. Via viscous coupling the noise driven rotation of the microscopic ferromagnetic grains is transmitted to the carrier liquid to yield a macroscopic torque. For a simple setup we analyze the rotation of the ferrofluid theoretically and show that the results are compatible with the outcome of a simple demonstration experiment.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, corrected version, improved figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

Contribution of a time-dependent metric on the dynamics of an interface between two immiscible electro-magnetically controllable Fluids

We consider the case of a deformable material interface between two immiscible moving media, both of them being magnetiable. The time dependence of the metric at the interface introduces a non linear term, proportional to the mean curvature, in the surface dynamical equations of mass momentum and angular momentum. We take into account the effects of that term also in the singular magnetic and electric fields inside the interface which lead to the existence of currents and charges densities through the interface, from the derivation of the Maxwell equations inside both bulks and the interface. Also, we give the expression for the entropy production and of the different thermo-dynamical fluxes. Our results enlarge previous results from other theories where the specific role of the time dependent surface metric was insufficiently stressed.Comment: 25 page

Evidence of random magnetic anisotropy in ferrihydrite nanoparticles based on analysis of statistical distributions

We show that the magnetic anisotropy energy of antiferromagnetic ferrihydrite depends on the square root of the nanoparticles volume, using a method based on the analysis of statistical distributions. The size distribution was obtained by transmission electron microscopy, and the anisotropy energy distributions were obtained from ac magnetic susceptibility and magnetic relaxation. The square root dependence corresponds to random local anisotropy, whose average is given by its variance, and can be understood in terms of the recently proposed single phase homogeneous structure of ferrihydrite.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Heating in the MRI environment due to superparamagnetic fluid suspensions in a rotating magnetic field

2011 March 1In the presence of alternating-sinusoidal or rotating magnetic fields, magnetic nanoparticles will act to realign their magnetic moment with the applied magnetic field. The realignment is characterized by the nanoparticle's time constant, τ. As the magnetic field frequency is increased, the nanoparticle's magnetic moment lags the applied magnetic field at a constant angle for a given frequency, Ω, in rad/s. Associated with this misalignment is a power dissipation that increases the bulk magnetic fluid's temperature which has been utilized as a method of magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia, particularly suited for cancer in low-perfusion tissue (e.g., breast) where temperature increases of between 4 and 7 degree Centigrade above the ambient in vivo temperature cause tumor hyperthermia. This work examines the rise in the magnetic fluid's temperature in the MRI environment which is characterized by a large DC field, B0. Theoretical analysis and simulation is used to predict the effect of both alternating-sinusoidal and rotating magnetic fields transverse to B0. Results are presented for the expected temperature increase in small tumors (approximately 1 cm radius) over an appropriate range of magnetic fluid concentrations (0.002–0.01 solid volume fraction) and nanoparticle radii (1–10 nm). The results indicate that significant heating can take place, even in low-field MRI systems where magnetic fluid saturation is not significant, with careful selection of the rotating or sinusoidal field parameters (field frequency and amplitude). The work indicates that it may be feasible to combine low-field MRI with a magnetic hyperthermia system using superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles.National Institutes of Health (U.S.