Convective instability of hollow Sedov-Taylor blast waves

Journal Article · Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Astrophysical Journal; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/168977· OSTI ID:6577739

Goodman, J ^[1]

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1. Princeton Univ. Observatory, NJ (USA)

The self-similar solutions by Sedov (1946) and Taylor (1950) for a strong spherical shock in an ideal gas are evacuated at their centers if the preshock density falls as a high power of radius. These solutions could represent an idealized form of a supernova blast wave in the early phase when the shock moves through the stellar envelope. For astrophysically relevant values of the adiabatic index, the hollow solutions are unstable to global convective modes; that is, the compressible generalization of Rayleigh-Taylor modes. For very large spherical harmonic degrees l, the growth rate scales as l exp 1/2 and the eigenfunction is concentrated within a distance proportional to 1/l of the inner edge of the fluid. A condition is also given for local convective instability, which may exist even when unstable global modes to not. 36 refs.

• OSTI ID: 6577739
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal; (USA), Vol. 358; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
SHOCK WAVES
WAVE PROPAGATION
SUPERNOVAE
BLAST EFFECTS
BOUNDARY-VALUE PROBLEMS
CONVECTION
EIGENVECTORS
EQUATIONS OF MOTION
EXPLOSIONS
HYDRODYNAMICS
IDEAL FLOW
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR INSTABILITY
STABILITY
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ENERGY TRANSFER
EQUATIONS
ERUPTIVE VARIABLE STARS
FLUID FLOW
FLUID MECHANICS
GALAXIES
HEAT TRANSFER
INSTABILITY
MASS TRANSFER
MECHANICS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
STARS
VARIABLE STARS
640102* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources