Proceedings of 2015 Photonics & Electromagnetics Research Symposium, Prague, July 6 - 9,Page(s)2436-2439
Abstract
When a plasma, which rotates differentially about a fixed center, is subjected
to a magnetic field, perpendicular to the plane of rotation of the fluid, the coupling of the
current with the field (the Lorentz force density) may be disruptive if the angular velocity of
the gas decreases with the increase of the radial coordinate. This phenomenon is commonly
referred to as the magnetorotational instability (MRI). For a perfectly conducting, inviscid plasma
(ideal approximation), the problem can be treated analytically. Such an approach is particularly
useful for the description of the dynamic evolution of accretion disks, astrophysical structures
consisting of ionized gases which rotate about compact objects (black holes, neutron stars). In
this case, the flow is assumed to exhibit a Keplerian profile, thereby leading to a dispersion
relation which is biquadratic in the growth rate of the MRI. However, the associated instability
condition implies the perturbative wavelength increases with the increase of the radial coordinate.
This means that, as the radial coordinate decreases, the perturbative frequency increases with
no limit. Recently, there has been some progress towards an analytical formulation of the MRI
by including dissipative effects for the rotating plasma. In this work, by introducing both finite
resistivity and viscosity for a Keplerian accretion disk, it is found that the growth rate of the
instability may satisfy a quadratic equation and become suppressed by a term which depends
on the magnetic Prandtl number. It is also shown that, when resistive effects dominate, the
perturbative wavelength saturates asymptotically to a minimum value which does not depend on
the radial coordinate.
Citation
Francisco Eugenio Mendonca Da Silveira,
"Dissipative Magnetorotational Instability: Wavelength Asymptotic Saturation," Proceedings of 2015 Photonics & Electromagnetics Research Symposium, Prague, July 6 - 9,Page(s)2436-2439