Magnetic traveling-stripe forcing: Enhanced transport in the advent of the Rosensweig instability.

A contactless pumping mechanism is realized in a layer of ferrofluid via a spatiotemporally modulated magnetic field. The resulting pressure gradient leads to a liquid ramp, which is measured by means of x-rays. The transport mechanism works best if a resonance of the surface waves with the driving is achieved. The behavior can be understood by considering the magnetically influenced dispersion relation of the fluid.