Elliptic and magneto-elliptic instabilities of disk vortices

TL;DR

This paper reviews the stability properties of vortices in turbulent flows, focusing on elliptic and magneto-elliptic instabilities, and discusses their role in vortex survival within disks.

Contribution

It provides a phenomenological review of elliptic and magneto-elliptic instabilities and their impact on vortex dynamics in turbulent flows and disk environments.

Findings

Elliptic and magneto-elliptic instabilities influence vortex stability.

Vortex survival depends on a balance between destruction and production mechanisms.

Vortex instabilities are fundamental to understanding turbulence and disk dynamics.

Abstract

Vortices are the fundamental units of turbulent flow. Understanding their stability properties therefore provides fundamental insights on the nature of turbulence itself. In this contribution I briefly review the phenomenological aspects of the instability of elliptic streamlines, in the hydro (elliptic instability) and hydromagnetic (magneto-elliptic instability) regimes. Vortex survival in disks is a balance between vortex destruction by these mechanisms, and vortex production by others, namely, the Rossby wave instability and the baroclinic instability.