Two-dimensional solitons on the surface of magnetic fluids.
We report an observation of a stable solitonlike structure on the surface of a ferrofluid, generated by a local perturbation in the hysteretic regime of the Rosensweig instability. Unlike other pattern-forming systems with localized 2D structures, magnetic fluids are characterized by energy conservation; hence their mechanism of soliton stabilization is different from the previously discussed gain-loss balance mechanism. The radioscopic measurements of the soliton's surface profile suggest that locking on the wavelength defined by the nonmonotonic dispersion curve is instrumental in its stabilization.
Richter
Reinhard
R
Experimentalphysik V, Universität Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
Barashenkov
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