Kinetics of a magnetic fluid phase separation induced by an external magnetic field

We study the processes of nucleation and subsequent evolution of a system of droplike aggregates suspended in a macroscopically homogeneous magnetic fluid made metastable by strengthening of an external magnetic field. The growing aggregates are highly elongated ellipsoidal shaped and are distributed over volume. Expressions for the growth rate of an aggregate, the critical nucleus volume, and the nucleation rate have been obtained. The aggregate distribution density is governed by a kinetic equation with neglect of fluctuations in the growth rate of single aggregate. The approximate solutions for supersaturation and diverse characteristics of the distribution density have been found as functions of time. The kinetics of evolution of a system of ellipsoidal aggregates in the presence of a magnetic field differs essentially from the corresponding kinetics of a system of spherical droplets.