Magnetic buoyancy instability

A magnetic buoyancy instability is a gravitational instability of a magnetized stratified fluid in which displacements of the gas and magnetic field can release Newtonian gravitational potential energy. Magnetic pressure supports part of the weight. Both interchange displacements and undular displacements can enter this broad category; Parker instability is the undular mechanism involving drainage along bent magnetic field lines.

A horizontal flux tube displaced without bending preserves $B/\rho$ by magnetic flux freezing. If thermal exchange keeps its temperature equal to its new surroundings, lateral magnetic pressure balance gives $(c_T^2+v_A^2)({\rho }_i^{\prime }-{\rho }^{\prime })=\rho B(B/\rho {)}^{\prime }/{\mu }_0$. Here $c_T^2=p/\rho$, $v_A^2=B^2/({\mu }_0\rho )$, and primes denote the response to a small vertical displacement from an equilibrium. Its linear buoyancy acceleration is $-gB(B/\rho {)}^{\prime }\xi /[{\mu }_0(c_T^2+v_A^2)]$. Thus local interchange is unstable when $B(B/\rho {)}^{\prime }<0$, equivalently $(B^2/{\rho }^2{)}^{\prime }<0$. This fast-thermal-exchange criterion differs from the adiabatic localized interchange criterion for a magnetized atmosphere.

For disturbances constant along the horizontal magnetic field, the minimized energy density is $\rho g[-(\ln \rho {)}^{\prime }-\rho g/(\gamma p+C)]|{\xi }_z{|}^2$. If its coefficient is nonnegative everywhere, the full energy is nonnegative. If it is strictly negative at a point of a smooth equilibrium, a compactly supported vertical displacement in a neighbouring interval gives negative energy. These interchange motions compress gas and magnetic pressure together.

Parker instability is an undular magnetic buoyancy instability of a gravitationally stratified atmosphere supported partly by magnetic pressure. A bent horizontal magnetic field can permit gas to drain along its magnetic field lines, leaving buoyant rising regions. Magnetic tension resists bending, so wavelengths and boundary conditions affect the instability threshold. For a magnetized isothermal atmosphere, the unrestricted-wavevector threshold is given by the magnetic buoyancy energy criterion.

At nonzero along-field wavenumber, put $q=i{k}_y{\xi }_y$, $P=\gamma p$ and $C=B^2/{\mu }_0$. After pressure minimization the energy density completes to $CP/(P+C)|q-\rho g{\xi }_z/P{|}^2+[C{k}_y^2-g{\rho }^{\prime }-{\rho }^2{g}^2/P]|{\xi }_z{|}^2$. Choosing the square to vanish and then taking a sufficiently small nonzero $k_y$ gives negative energy exactly when the displayed strict criterion holds somewhere. A fixed prescribed wavenumber retains the stabilizing $C{k}_y^2$ tension term; the criterion asserts existence of an allowed nonzero wavenumber. The associated along-field displacement lets material drain while magnetic flux bends.

For the magnetized isothermal atmosphere, set $a=1/(2H)$, $s=v_s^2>0$, $b=v_a^2>0$ and $\Delta =i{k}_x{\xi }_x+i{k}_y{\xi }_y+(i{k}_z+a){\xi }_z$. After weighting the displacement by $e^{z/(2H)}$, the restoring Hermitian matrix $\mathsf{K}$ satisfiesThus $gH\le s$ makes the form nonnegative for every wavevector. If $gH>s$, choose $k_z=0$, $k_x\ne 0$, ${\xi }_z=1$, ${\xi }_x=-a/(i{k}_x)$ and ${\xi }_y=g/(si{k}_y)$. The squares vanish, and sufficiently small nonzero $k_y$ gives a negative form. The Rayleigh quotient proves instability when these wavelengths are admissible. Since $s=\gamma c_s^2$ and $\beta =2c_s^2/b$, the condition is precisely $\beta (\gamma -1)<1$.

For a horizontal field, set $C=B^2/{\mu }_0$. Static force balance gives $\delta \Pi =\rho g{\xi }_z-(\gamma p+C)\nabla \cdot \xi +Ci{k}_y{\xi }_y$. Given smooth compactly supported vertical and along-field displacements, the displayed choice makes total-pressure perturbation zero while ${\xi }_x=O(k_x^{-1})$. The nonnegative pressure and transverse-tension terms vanish as $|k_x|\to \infty$. This constructs the infimum needed for the magnetohydrodynamic energy principle; a strictly negative limit is already negative at some finite wavenumber.