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Updated: Mar 29, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Observation of Rayleigh-Taylor-instability evolution in a plasma with magnetic and viscous effects
Colin S Adams1,2, Auna L Moser1, Scott C Hsu1
1Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
Abstract:
We present time-resolved observations of Rayleigh-Taylor-instability (RTI) evolution at the interface between an unmagnetized plasma jet colliding with a stagnated, magnetized plasma. The observed instability growth time (∼10 μs) is consistent with the estimated linear RTI growth rate calculated using experimentally inferred values of density (∼10(14) cm(-3)) and deceleration (∼10(9) m/s(2)). The observed mode wavelength (≳1 cm) nearly doubles within a linear growth time. Theoretical estimates of magnetic and viscous stabilization and idealized magnetohydrodynamic simulations including a physical viscosity model both suggest that the observed instability evolution is subject to magnetic and/or viscous effects.
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