4×4 electromagnetic coil array shaping ferrofluid into dynamic patterns. Physics simulation: Rosensweig instability, Langevin magnetization, viscous damping, surface tension.
Each coil generates a magnetic field that pulls ferrofluid upward against gravity. Where fields from adjacent coils overlap, the fluid rises higher — this is the Rosensweig instability. The simulation models magnetic force, gravitational restoring force, viscous damping, and surface tension as a coupled PDE system, solved with Verlet integration at 60 FPS.
Ferrofluid at the Rosensweig instability threshold exhibits complex, history-dependent dynamics — a hallmark of reservoir computing substrates. The project explores whether the fluid can serve as a physical echo-state network, with coil inputs driving transient states that linear readouts can decode.