With vanishing surface pressure/mass density and regular admissible displacements, integration by parts makes the axisymmetric adiabatic displacement operator symmetric in the mass density-weighted inner product. Completing the pressure square gives the displayed energy form. Nonnegative form for every admissible displacement excludes exponentially growing axisymmetric adiabatic modes in the Cowling approximation. A negative trial Rayleigh quotient proves negative spectrum by the Rayleigh-Ritz variational principle. Nonnegative stratification and epicyclic coefficients give a simple sufficient stability condition.
The linearized azimuthal Euler momentum equation is
For the time dependence and , it gives
This expresses conservation of the displaced element's specific angular momentum. It applies directly to nonzero-frequency modes, with the zero-frequency limit taken in the displacement formulation.
The radial advective acceleration supplies , while the pressure force perturbation is . Eliminate and retain the vertical equation. Under the Cowling approximation, , so
The continuity equation gives . The Lagrangian adiabatic relation , with , gives
Here is the radial epicyclic frequency. These formulas define the axisymmetric adiabatic displacement operator.