The Stability of Dilute Plasmas with Thermal and Composition Gradients. I. The Slow Conduction Limit: Overstable Gravity Modes

We analyze the stability of a dilute plasma with thermal and composition gradients in the limit where conduction is slow compared to the dynamical timescale. We find necessary and sufficient conditions for stability when the background magnetic field is either parallel or perpendicular to the therma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Pessah, Martin E, Chakraborty, Sagar
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 14.11.2011
Subjects
Composition
Dilution
Dynamic stability
Galactic clusters
Galaxies
Gravitation
Gravitational fields
Helium
Plasmas
Stability analysis
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Summary:We analyze the stability of a dilute plasma with thermal and composition gradients in the limit where conduction is slow compared to the dynamical timescale. We find necessary and sufficient conditions for stability when the background magnetic field is either parallel or perpendicular to the thermal and composition gradients that are parallel to the gravitational field. We provide approximate solutions for all the relevant modes involved, which are driven by gravity, conduction, and diffusion. We discuss the astrophysical implications of our findings for a representative galaxy cluster where helium has sedimented.
ISSN:2331-8422