The effect of finite electrical conductivity on compressible magnetoconvection (Q1114535)

The stability of a polytropic fluid layer in the presence of a uniform vertical magnetic field is studied under the combined influence of thermal and magnetic diffusion. The main objective of the present investigation is to examine the effect of finite electrical conductivity of the medium on the stability of hydromagnetic modes which are believed to be important in the sunspot phenomena. It is shown that the inclusion of finite electrical conductivity has destabilizing effect on convective modes and small-scale convection can occur in the presence of strong magnetic field, provided the magnetic diffusivity is larger than the thermal diffusivity. The magnetic diffusivity, however, has a tendency to stabilize the fast, slow, and Alfvén-modes.