Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 July 2007
A striking resemblance between the normal-field instability in ferromagnetic fluids and the interfacial mode of the thermocapillary instability in viscous fluids is presented. A nonlinear evolution equation describing the dynamics of the free surface for a ferrofluid layer subject to a uniform normal magnetic field is derived, and compared to that for a thin viscous layer heated from below. Their similarity predicts the possibility of mutual nonlinear stability control.