Write the vortex aspect ratio as to distinguish it from cylindrical radius. The Kida vortex core flow is
As , and , recovering Keplerian shear.
For a fluid particle,
It therefore circulates around an ellipse with angular frequency and period
For a perturbation depending only on , horizontal pressure gradients vanish. Linearization gives
Taking yields
The first bracket is positive for , while the second is negative for . Their product is therefore negative, so is imaginary and the mode grows precisely when