Coupling of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and buoyancy instability in a thermally laminar plasma

Journal Article · Mon Feb 14 23:00:00 EST 2011 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3555526· OSTI ID:21535148

Haijun, Ren; Zhengwei, Wu ^[1]; Jintao, Cao; Chao, Dong ^[1]; Chu, Paul K ^[2]

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1. CAS Key Laboratory of Basic Plasma Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026 (China)
2. Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon (Hong Kong)

Thermal convective instability is investigated in a thermally stratified plasma in the presence of shear flow, which is known to give rise to the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability. We examine how the KH instability and magnetothermal instability (MTI) affect each other. Based on the sharp boundary model, the KH instability coupled with the MTI is studied. We present the growth rate and instability criteria. The shear flow is shown to significantly alter the critical condition for the occurrence of thermal convective instability.

• OSTI ID: 21535148
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 18; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
CONVECTIVE INSTABILITIES
FLUID FLOW
HELMHOLTZ INSTABILITY
INSTABILITY
INSTABILITY GROWTH RATES
LAMINAR FLOW
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MACROINSTABILITIES
SHEAR