Instability of axially symmetric MHD flows (Q1925290)

The problem of linear stability of axially symmetric steady-state flows of an ideal incompressible fluid in a magnetic field is studied. A necessary and sufficient condition for stability of these flows with respect to perturbations of the same symmetry type is obtained by the direct Lyapunov method. This condition represents a generalization of the well-known Rayleigh criterion of ``centrifugal'' stability of rotating streams to the magnetohydrodynamic case. Two-sided exponential estimates of the perturbation growth are derived. A class of the most rapidly growing perturbations is identified, and exact formulas for determining their growth rate are obtained. The corresponding exponents are calculated using the steady flow parameters and initial data for the perturbation field.