We analyzed the effect of viscoelasticity on the dynamics of fluids in porous
media by studying the flow of a Maxwell fluid in a circular tube, in which the
flow is induced by a wave traveling on the tube wall. The present study
investigates novelties brought about into the classic peristaltic mechanism by
inclusion of non-Newtonian effects that are important, for example, for
hydrocarbons. This problem has numerous applications in various branches of
science, including stimulation of fluid flow in porous media under the effect
of elastic waves. We have found that in the extreme non-Newtonian regime there
is a possibility of a fluid flow in the direction {\it opposite} to the
propagation of the wave traveling on the tube wall.Comment: to Appear in Phys. Rev. E., 01 September 2001 issu
