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Updated: Mar 31, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Viscoelastic Taylor-Couette instability as analog of the magnetorotational instability
Yang Bai1, Olivier Crumeyrolle1, Innocent Mutabazi1
1Laboratoire Ondes et Milieux Complexes, UMR No. 6294, CNRS, Université du Havre, 53 Rue de Prony, F-76058 Le Havre Cedex, France.
Abstract:
A linear stability analysis and an experimental study of a viscoelastic Taylor-Couette flow corotating in the Keplerian ratio allow us to elucidate the analogy between the viscoelastic instability and the magnetorotational instability (MRI). A generalized Rayleigh criterion allows us to determine the potentially unstable zone to pure-elasticity-driven perturbations. Experiments with a viscoelastic polymer solution yield four modes: one pure-elasticity mode and three elastorotational instability (ERI) modes that represent the MRI-analog modes. The destabilization by the polymer viscosity is evidenced for the ERI modes.
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