Nonlinear waves on the surface of a magnetic fluid jet (Q1102149)

The capillary instability of a circular fluid cylinder has been a subject of considerable interest since the pioneering work of Rayleigh. The linear analysis revealed that the value of the cutoff wave number k is unity whereas the maximum growth rate of instability occurs when \(k=0.697\). In recent years, the various physical phenomena relating to the flows of magnetic fluids have been studied, especially the linear instability of a magnetic fluid jet in the presence of a uniform magnetic field acting along the axis of the jet. We study the nonlinear stability of a magnetic fluid jet when a uniform magnetic field acts along the jet axis. We have obtained a nonlinear Schrödinger equation governing the evolution of the envelope of a quasi-monochromatic wavetrain. From this equation, we deduce the condition for which the wavetrain solution of constant amplitude is unstable against modulations.