Linear analysis of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in relativistic magnetized symmetric flows

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: Linear analysis of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in relativistic magnetized symmetric flows
المؤلفون: Chow, Anthony, Rowan, Michael E., Sironi, Lorenzo, Davelaar, Jordy, Bodo, Gianluigi, Narayan, Ramesh
المصدر: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 524, Issue 1, September 2023, Pages 90
سنة النشر: 2023
المجموعة: Astrophysics
مصطلحات موضوعية: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
الوصف: We study the linear stability of a planar interface separating two fluids in relative motion, focusing on the symmetric configuration where the two fluids have the same properties (density, temperature, magnetic field strength, and direction). We consider the most general case with arbitrary sound speed $c_{\rm s}$, Alfv\'en speed $v_{\rm A}$, and magnetic field orientation. For the instability associated with the fast mode, we find that the lower bound of unstable shear velocities is set by the requirement that the projection of the velocity onto the fluid-frame wavevector is larger than the projection of the Alfv\'en speed onto the same direction, i.e., shear should overcome the effect of magnetic tension. In the frame where the two fluids move in opposite directions with equal speed $v$, the upper bound of unstable velocities corresponds to an effective relativistic Mach number $M_{re} \equiv v/v_{\rm f\perp} \sqrt{(1-v_{\rm f\perp}^2)/(1-v^2)} \cos\theta=\sqrt{2}$, where $v_{rm f\perp}=[v_A^2+c_{\rm s}^2(1-v_A^2)]^{1/2}$ is the fast speed assuming a magnetic field perpendicular to the wavevector (here, all velocities are in units of the speed of light), and $\theta$ is the laboratory-frame angle between the flow velocity and the wavevector projection onto the shear interface. Our results have implications for shear flows in the magnetospheres of neutron stars and black holes -- both for single objects and for merging binaries -- where the Alfv\'en speed may approach the speed of light.
Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
نوع الوثيقة: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stad1833
URL الوصول: http://arxiv.org/abs/2305.00036
رقم الأكسشن: edsarx.2305.00036
قاعدة البيانات: arXiv