Miscible ferrofluid patterns in a radial magnetic field

Pattern formation in a miscible ferrofluid system is experimentally investigated. The experiment is performed by immersing a thin ferrofluid droplet in a cylindrical container, overfilling it with a nonmagnetic miscible fluid, and applying an in-plane radial magnetic field. Visually striking patterns are obtained whose morphologies change from circular at zero field to complex starburst-like structures at finite field. The evolution of miscible ferrofluid droplets of various initial diameters subjected to different magnetic-field strengths is considered. Proper rescaling of the experimental data indicates that the time evolution of the droplets' area increments obeys a universal 4/3 power-law behavior at long times.