Magnetically induced Rayleigh-Taylor instability under rotation: Comparison of experimental and theoretical results

Abstract

Our theoretical work has shown that rotating a Rayleigh-Taylor-unstable two-layer stratification about a vertical axis slows the development of the instability under gravity and can stabilize axisymmetric modes indefinitely. Here we compare theoretical predictions directly with our experiments on a rotating two-layer system which is made unstable by magnetic forces applied using a superconducting magnet.

Cylindrical rotating Rayleigh–Taylor instability

“…Recent work has considered the effect of rotation on the Rayleigh–Taylor instability both experimentally (Baldwin, Scase & Hill 2015; Scase, Baldwin & Hill 2017 a , 2020) and theoretically (Scase, Baldwin & Hill 2017 b ) in the low rotation rate limit focussing on the importance of the initial hydrostatic state. This work builds upon previous studies by Chandrasekhar (1961) and Miles (1964).…”