Gourgouliatos, KN and Komissarov, SS (2018) Relativistic centrifugal instability. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 475 (1). L125-L129. ISSN 1745-3933
Abstract
Near the central engine, many astrophysical jets are expected to rotate about their axis. Further out they are expected to go through the processes of reconfinement and recollimation. In both these cases, the flow streams along a concave surface and hence, it is subject to the centrifugal force. It is well known that such flows may experience the centrifugal instability (CFI), to which there are many laboratory examples. The recent computer simulations of relativistic jets from active galactic nuclei undergoing the process of reconfinement show that in such jets CFI may dominate over the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability associated with velocity shear (Gourgouliatos & Komissarov). In this letter, we generalize the Rayleigh criterion for CFI in rotating fluids to relativistic flows using a heuristic analysis. We also present the results of computer simulations which support our analytic criterion for the case of an interface separating two uniformly rotating cylindrical flows. We discuss the difference between CFI and the Rayleigh–Taylor instability in flows with curved streamlines.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. All rights reserved. |
Keywords: | hydrodynamics, instabilities, relativistic processes, stars: jets, galaxies: jets |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mathematics (Leeds) > Applied Mathematics (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) ST/K000853/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 18 Apr 2018 13:32 |
Last Modified: | 18 Apr 2018 13:32 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/mnrasl/sly016 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:129685 |