Impact of the ambipolar diffusion in the structuration of the magnetic Rayleigh Taylor instability with oblique magnetic field

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Main Authors: Callies, E., Guillet, V., Marcowith, A., Meliani, Z., Lesaffre, P.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866909659097464832
author Callies, E.
Guillet, V.
Marcowith, A.
Meliani, Z.
Lesaffre, P.
author_facet Callies, E.
Guillet, V.
Marcowith, A.
Meliani, Z.
Lesaffre, P.
contents Aims. We investigate the impact of ambipolar diffusion on the development of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) with an oblique magnetic field in the incompressible limit. Methods. We developed a general bi-fluid framework comprising charges and neutrals with the specific feature of differing gravity between charges and neutrals. We derived the perturbed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations and obtained an analytic dispersion relation for an oblique magnetic field. The growth rate was then evaluated using a numerical integration of the dispersion relation. In particular, we focussed on the anisotropy in the mode growth induced ambipolar diffusion. Results. In contrast to the case of a magnetic field within the interface, an oblique magnetic field is much less restrictive with respect to the wavenumbers that can develop; rather than a sharp cut-off, it results in a selection of preferred scales for mode growth. The presence of a second neutral fluid that is insensitive to gravity tends to amplify the anisotropy in the possible direction of the instability development. In particular, we show that this effect is maximal when the coupling is in an intermediate range between full and no charge-neutral coupling, specifically in the region where the ambipolar diffusion is highest.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_19672
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Impact of the ambipolar diffusion in the structuration of the magnetic Rayleigh Taylor instability with oblique magnetic field
Callies, E.
Guillet, V.
Marcowith, A.
Meliani, Z.
Lesaffre, P.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Aims. We investigate the impact of ambipolar diffusion on the development of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) with an oblique magnetic field in the incompressible limit. Methods. We developed a general bi-fluid framework comprising charges and neutrals with the specific feature of differing gravity between charges and neutrals. We derived the perturbed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations and obtained an analytic dispersion relation for an oblique magnetic field. The growth rate was then evaluated using a numerical integration of the dispersion relation. In particular, we focussed on the anisotropy in the mode growth induced ambipolar diffusion. Results. In contrast to the case of a magnetic field within the interface, an oblique magnetic field is much less restrictive with respect to the wavenumbers that can develop; rather than a sharp cut-off, it results in a selection of preferred scales for mode growth. The presence of a second neutral fluid that is insensitive to gravity tends to amplify the anisotropy in the possible direction of the instability development. In particular, we show that this effect is maximal when the coupling is in an intermediate range between full and no charge-neutral coupling, specifically in the region where the ambipolar diffusion is highest.
title Impact of the ambipolar diffusion in the structuration of the magnetic Rayleigh Taylor instability with oblique magnetic field
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.19672