Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-767nl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-08T15:20:14.797Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

On the stability of the tangential discontinuity interface in dusty plasma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2015

A. I. Ershkovich*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 69978, Israel
P. L. Israelevich
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 69978, Israel
*
Email address for correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract

Stability of the plane tangential discontinuity (TD) interface in a multi-component dusty plasma (ions, electrons, neutral particles and charged dust) is considered in hydrodynamical approximation. The criterion of stability does not depend on the presence of dust only on one side of the discontinuity but is changed if the dust penetrates through the discontinuity. Therefore, if the instability criterion is marginal, even weak penetration of the dust through the interface may induce Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. This conclusion also refers to cylindrical TD in the presence of dust, so that generation of helical waves in astrophysical jets, type I comet tails, etc. due to the shear driven Kelvin–Helmholtz instability may be hampered in dusty objects of such a geometry.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bessel, F. 1836 Beobachtungen ueber die physische beschaffenheit des halley'schen kometen und dadurch veranlafste bemerkungen. Astron. Nachr. 13, 185232.Google Scholar
Conway, R. G., Davis, R. J., Foley, A. R. and Ray, T. P. 1981 Radio jet of 3c273. Nature 294, 540542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ershkovich, A. I. 1978 The comet tail magnetic field: large or small? Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 184, 755758.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ershkovich, A. I. 1980 Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in type-1 comet tails and associated phenomena. Space Sci. Rev. 25, 334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ershkovich, A. I. and Chernikov, A. A. 1973 Non-linear waves in type-1 comet tails. Planet. Space Sci. 21, 663670.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ershkovich, A. I. and Mendis, D. A. 1983 On the penetration of the solar wind into the cometary ionosphere. Astrophys. J. 269, 743750.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ershkovich, A. I. and Nusinov, A. A. 1972 Geomagnetic tail oscillations. Cosm. Electrodyn. 2, 471480.Google Scholar
Ershkovich, A. I., Nusinov, A. A. and Chernikov, A. A. 1972 Oscillations of type-1 comet tails. Planet. Space Sci. 20, 12351243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hardee, P. E. 1979 On the configuration and propagation of jets in extragalactic radio sources. Astrophys. J. 234, 4756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendrix, T. and Keppens, R. 2014 Effect of dust on Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. Astron. Astrophys. 562, A114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffmann, F. De and Teller, E. 1950 Magneto-hydrodynamic shocks. Phys. Rev. 80, 692703.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landau, L. D. and Lifshitz, E. M. 1960 Electrodynamics of Continuous Media. Pergamon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
McKenzie, J. F. 1970 Hydromagnetic oscillations of the geomagnetic tail and plasma sheet. J. Geophys. Res. 75, 53315339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendis, D. A. and Horanyi, M. 2013 Dusty plasma effects in comets: expectations for rosetta. Rev. Geophys. 51, 5375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ray, T. P. 1981 Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities in radio jets. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 196, 195207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, E. J., Tsurutani, B. T., Slavin, J. A., Jones, D. E., Siscoe, G. L. and Mendis, D. A. 1986 International cometary explorer encounter with Giacobini-Zinner: magnetic field observations. Science 232, 382385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sturrock, P. A. and Hartle, R. E. 1966 Two-fluid model of the solar wind. Phys. Rev. Lett. 16, 628631.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Syrovatskii, S. I. 1953 On stability of tangential discontinuities in a magnetohydrodynamical medium. J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 24, 622627.Google Scholar
Syrovatskii, S. I. 1957 Magnetic hydrodynamics. Sov. Phys. Usp. 62, 247303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar