Nonlinear traveling waves in confined ferrofluids.

We study the development of nonlinear traveling waves on the interface separating two viscous fluids flowing in parallel in a vertical Hele-Shaw cell. One of the fluids is a ferrofluid and a uniform magnetic field is applied in the plane of the cell, making an angle with the initially undisturbed interface. We employ a mode-coupling theory that predicts the possibility of controlling the speed of the waves by purely magnetic means. The influence of the tilted magnetic field on the waves shape profile and the establishment of stationary traveling wave structures are investigated.