Published in

American Institute of Physics, Physics of Plasmas, 12(21), p. 122708, 2014

DOI: 10.1063/1.4904210

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Temporal evolution of surface ripples on a finite plasma slab subject to the magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instability

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Using the ideal magnetohydrodynamic model, we calculate the temporal evolution of initial ripples on the boundaries of a planar plasma slab that is subjected to the magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The plasma slab consists of three regions. We assume that in each region the plasma density is constant with an arbitrary value and the magnetic field is also constant with an arbitrary magnitude and an arbitrary direction parallel to the interfaces. Thus, the instability may be driven by a combination of magnetic pressure and kinetic pressure. The general dispersion relation is derived, together with the feedthrough factor between the two interfaces. The temporal evolution is constructed from the superposition of the eigenmodes. Previously established results are recovered in the various limits. Numerical examples are given on the temporal evolution of ripples on the interfaces of the finite plasma slab.