Segregation in a monolayer of magnetic spheres

Abstract

Segregation and pattern formation is investigated for binary mixtures of granular magnetic spheres in a vertically vibrated monolayer. The spheres, all of equal mass and size, have a maximum surface magnetic field $B$ induced by encased cylindrical magnetic cores of length $l$. For binary mixtures of particles with equal $l$ but different $B$, we find that the particles spontaneously segregate when driven. For fixed vibration frequency, the segregation rate increases roughly linearly with driving acceleration over the amplitudes investigated. For systems of fixed particle number density, the rate of segregation also decreases as the volume fraction of “strong” (high $B$) particles increases. We find that segregation also occurs in binary mixtures of particles with equal $B$, but different $l$. Finally, using a simple model of spheres with dipolar and higher magnetic moments, we show that the observed segregation phenomena occur in conjunction with a decrease in magnetic energy.