Magnetohydrodynamic instability in differentially rotating compressible flow

TL;DR

This paper investigates a newly identified magnetohydrodynamic instability in differentially rotating compressible flows, revealing its significant growth rate and dependence on wavenumber, which impacts angular momentum transport in astrophysical contexts.

Contribution

It uncovers a previously unexplored magnetohydrodynamic instability in a specific parameter space, expanding understanding of turbulence in astrophysical flows.

Findings

Identifies a powerful MHD instability in the region where ^2 < 0.

The instability has a high growth rate.

Growth rate depends on the wavenumber.

Abstract

Transport of angular momentum is one of the thrust areas of astrophysical flows. Instabilities and hence the turbulence generated by it has been invoked to understand its role in angular momentum transport in hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic regime. Investigation of an unexplored region described by the parameter space $\Omega_e^2 < 0$, $\Omega_e$ being the epicyclic frequency, resulted in a powerful magnetohydrodynamic instability. The growth rate of this instability is rather large and is found to depend on the wavenumber.