Linear study of Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a diffusive quantum plasma

The linear Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability in an incompressible quantum plasma is investigated on the basis of quantum magnetohydrodynamic model. It is shown that the occurrence of RT instability depends on density-temperature inhomogeneity (characteristic lengths) on one hand, and the system layer size on the other. It is also observed that the combined effects of external magnetic field, diffusivity, and quantum pressure significantly modify the dispersion properties of system in both the parallel and perpendicular directions. For any case, the imaginary and real parts of dispersion relation are presented and the possibility and conditions for the instability growth rate are discussed. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.