The Rayleigh-Taylor instability and internal waves in quantum plasmas

Influence of quantum effects on the internal waves and the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in plasma is investigated. It is shown that quantum pressure always stabilizes the RT instability. The problem is solved both in the limit of short-wavelength perturbations and exactly for density profiles with layers of exponential stratification. In the case of stable stratification, quantum pressure modifies the dispersion relation of the inertial waves. Because of the quantum effects, the internal waves may propagate in the transverse direction, which was impossible in the classical case. A specific form of pure quantum internal waves is obtained, which do not require any external gravitational field. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.