Abstract
An inhomogeneous magnetic field exerts a magnetic body force on magnetically permeable fluids. A recent experiment [D. Braithwaite, E. Beaugnon, and R. Tournier, Nature (London) 354, 134 (1991)] demonstrates that this force can be used to compensate for gravity and to control convection in a paramagnetic solution of gadolinium nitrate. We provide the theory of magnetically controlled convection in a horizontal paramagnetic fluid layer heated from either above or below. Our theoretical predictions agree with the experiments.
- Received 25 April 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.57.R29
©1998 American Physical Society
