APS » PROLA » Phys. Rev. E » Volume 59 » Issue 2

Phys. Rev. E 59, 1729 - 1735 (1999)

Nonlinear three-dimensional Rayleigh-Taylor instability
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S. I. Abarzhi *,†
Department of Mathematics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599

Received 10 February 1998; revised 26 May 1998

The Rayleigh-Taylor instability is studied for an incompressible inviscid fluid of infinite depth for three-dimensional (3D) spatially periodic flow. The problem is formulated in terms of general conditions that allow one to find the symmetry of the observable steady structures. Analytical steady solutions for a hexagonal type of flow symmetry (plane group p6mm) are found in few orders of approximations. Interrelations between the results with various types of flow symmetry are established. Comparisons with previously studied 3D flows with “square” and “rectangular” symmetries are given.


©1999 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRE/v59/p1729
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.59.1729
PACS: 47.20.-k, 52.35.Py

* Present address: University of Bayreuth, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Bayreuth 95440, Germany. FAX: +49-921-555820. Electronic address: snezha@uni-bayreuth.de
† FAX: +1-919-962-5228. Electronic address: snezha@math.unc.edu

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