Rayleigh-Taylor instability of rotating fluid in the presence of a vertical magnetic field (Q1099722)

The author has studied the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of two superposed stratified inviscid fluids. The fluids are rotating and are permeated by a uniform vertical magnetic field. Perfect conductivity is assumed. It is shown that n 2 is purely regal, where n is the growth rate of perturbations. This fact is used to show that a unique dispersion relation exists for an unstable configuration i.e. if the lighter fluid lies beneath the heavier one whereas no unique dispersion relation exists if the heavier fluid lies beneath the lighter fluid. It is shown that rotation slows down the rate at which potentially unstable stratification departs from the equilibrium position.