Kelvin-Helmholtz instability at the magnetopause. I - Solution for compressible plasmas. II - Energy flux into the magnetosphere

Details Kelvin-Helmholtz instability at the magnetopause. I - Solution for compressible plasmas. II - Energy flux into the magnetosphere Kelvin-Helmholtz instability at the magnetopause. I - Solution for compressible plasmas. II - Energy flux into the magnetosphere

Feb 1983

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1983jgr....88..841p&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 88, Feb. 1, 1983, p. 841-861.

Physics

115

Compressible Fluids, Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability, Magnetopause, Space Plasmas, Critical Velocity, Discontinuity, Linear Systems, Surface Waves, Wave Equations

Scientific paper

The Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability of a tangential discontinuity in compressible plasmas is reexamined within the framework of a linear MHD treatment. The properties of the surface modes for general plasma conditions are characterized, providing a full description of the wave properties, including the critical velocities, linear growth rates, wave vectors, and phase velocities. Previous work in the area is reviewed. The dispersion relation is solved, pointing out that there are two kinds of unstable surface waves called fast and slow waves. It is shown that both waves are K-H unstable over limited ranges of relative flow speeds between the lower and upper critical velocities. Both critical velocities and growth rates are evaluated numerically for some typical parameters. It is also shown that if the flow speed exceeds the upper critical velocity of the fast wave, the wave vector of the fast wave changes from complex to real, reflecting a change of the unstable fast surface wave into stable MHD body waves.

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