RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR INSTABILITY WITH HALL-CURRENTS

The Rayleigh-Taylor instability problem is discussed for an inviscid heterogeneous and incompressible fluid of zero electrical resistivity in the presence of Hall currents. The external magnetic field is taken to be in the horizontal direction and uniform. It is shown that statically stable arrangement in the absence of magnetic field remains stable in the presence of Hall currents. But if the system is statically unstable, a sufficient condition of stability is obtained. The regions of stability are studied from the sufficient condition so obtained. The Hall currents have a destabilizing character relative to problems where there is a magnetic field without the Hall effect. © 1969, THE PHYSICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN. All rights reserved.