Richtmyer-Meshkov Type Instability of a Current Sheet in a Relativistically Magnetized Plasma

TL;DR

This paper investigates the linear stability of a current sheet in relativistically magnetized plasma under shock-induced impulsive acceleration, revealing a Richtmyer-Meshkov type instability that can trigger rapid magnetic energy release in astrophysical phenomena.

Contribution

It demonstrates that relativistically magnetized current sheets exhibit a Richtmyer-Meshkov instability due to shock passage, independent of plasma resistivity, with implications for high-energy astrophysics.

Findings

Current sheet always shows Richtmyer-Meshkov instability in relativistic plasma.

Instability can generate turbulence leading to turbulent reconnection.

Potential trigger for rapid magnetic energy release in astrophysical shocks.

Abstract

Linear stability of a current sheet that is subject to an impulsive acceleration due to a shock passage is studied with the effect of guide magnetic field. We find that the current sheet embedded in relativistically magnetized plasma always shows a Richtmyer-Meshkov type instability, while it depends on the density structure in the Newtonian limit. The growth of the instability is expected to generate turbulence around the current sheet that can induce so-called turbulent reconnection whose rate is essentially free from plasma resistivity. Thus, the instability can be applied as a triggering mechanism of rapid magnetic energy release in variety of high-energy astrophysical phenomena such as pulsar wind nebulae, gamma-ray bursts, and active galactic nuclei, where the shock wave is supposed to play a crucial role.