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Let $c_s^2=(dP/d\Sigma {)}_0$ be the barotropic closure of a razor-thin disk sound-speed squared and ${\kappa }_r$ the radial epicyclic frequency, with ${\kappa }_r^2=2(2-q_r){\Omega }^2$ for orbital shear parameter $q_r$. For a radial axisymmetric normal mode in a uniform barotropic shearing sheet, let $U_x,U_y$ be velocity amplitudes and $\sigma$ the surface-density amplitude. Linear momentum gives $-i\omega U_x=2\Omega U_y-ik{c}_s^2\sigma /{\Sigma }_0$ and $-i\omega U_y=-{\kappa }_r^2{U}_x/(2\Omega )$; mass conservation gives $\omega \sigma =k{\Sigma }_0{U}_x$. Eliminating the amplitudes for $\omega \ne 0$ proves the displayed dispersion relation. The rotational term is epicyclic restoration; the pressure term is acoustic restoration. Without a perturbed gravitational potential, no self-gravity term belongs in the formula.

Expand a unit-mass particle's Lagrangian about an axisymmetric circular orbit of radius $r_0$ and frequency ${\Omega }_0$, using $r=r_0+x$ and $\phi ={\Omega }_{0}t+y/r_0$. Circular-orbit balance removes the linear radial term; total-time-derivative invariance of a Lagrangian removes $r_0{\Omega }_0\dot{y}$. To second order,Here $q$ is the orbital shear parameter and ${\Omega }_z$ is the vertical epicyclic frequency. The Euler-Lagrange equations retain the local Coriolis acceleration and tidal gravity.

Choose a reference circular orbit at $r_0$, and use local coordinates $x=r-r_0$, $y=r_0[\varphi -{\Omega }_{0}t]$, with the frame rotating at $\Omega ={\Omega }_0=\Omega (r_0)$. Linearizing differential rotation in the shearing sheet gives the background flowThus the velocity perturbation is measured relative to this background. The local orbital shear parameter is $q=2A/\Omega =-d\ln \Omega /d\ln r$; Keplerian rotation has $q=3/2$ and $A=3\Omega /4$. Rotation supplies the Coriolis force, while the linear shear supplies the terms proportional to $A$.

For constant density, $\psi$ is the total-pressure potential after background force balance has been subtracted:up to a function of time and any prescribed perturbation potential that is absorbed into it. The magnetic-pressure gradient has been combined with the gas-pressure gradient, leaving magnetic tension as $\mathbf{B}\cdot \nabla \mathbf{B}/({\mu }_0\rho )$. The pressure also enforces incompressibility. In the unstratified shearing box here, the tidal/background terms have already been removed in deriving the perturbation equations; no independent vertical stratification is being evolved.

Write the proposed background as $\mathbf{U}=U(x,z){\mathbf{e}}_y$, $U=-3\Omega x/2+q\Omega z$. It satisfies incompressibility, and $\mathbf{U}\cdot \nabla \mathbf{U}=U{\partial }_y\mathbf{U}=0$. A constant pressure has zero gradient. The Coriolis acceleration is $-2\Omega {\mathbf{e}}_z\times \mathbf{U}=2\Omega U{\mathbf{e}}_x=-(3x-2qz){\Omega }^2{\mathbf{e}}_x$, which exactly cancels the prescribed body force. Thus it is a steady state.

The background is ordinary Keplerian radial shear together with vertical shear: ${\partial }_{x}U=-3\Omega /2$ and ${\partial }_{z}U=q\Omega$. At a given radius, different heights have different azimuthal velocities. The small $q$ in this question measures vertical shear; it is distinct from the orbital shear parameter, whose radial value here remains $3/2$. The vertical shear instability draws on this height-dependent differential rotation.

Put $r_S=2R_g$. On the midplane, circular orbit balance gives $r{\Omega }^2={\partial }_r\Phi =GM/(r-r_S{)}^2$. The specific angular momentum, specific orbital energy and orbital shear parameter of a Paczyński-Wiita circular orbit are thereforeFor a small radial displacement at fixed specific angular momentum, the effective potential stability criterion gives the radial epicyclic frequencyHere ${\kappa }_r$ is the question's epicyclic $\kappa$. Its square is negative for $2R_g<r<6R_g$, so a radial displacement grows instead of undergoing epicyclic motion. The orbit at $r_{\mathrm{in}}=6R_g$ is marginal, and the outer orbits are stable to small radial displacements. At this inner edge,This efficiency belongs to the Paczyński-Wiita potential; it is an approximation to the relativistic black-hole result.

For unit mass, the Lagrangian in cylindrical coordinates isIntroduce shearing sheet coordinates by $r=r_0+x$ and $\phi ={\Omega }_{0}t+y/r_0$. Evaluate all derivatives of $\Phi$ at $(r_0,0)$. The reference circular orbit obeys ${\Phi }_r=r_0{\Omega }_0^2$, while midplane symmetry gives ${\Phi }_z={\Phi }_{rz}=0$. Its Taylor expansion isExpanding the kinetic energy to the same order givesThe terms linear in $x$ cancel by circular-orbit balance. Discard the constant and the term $r_0{\Omega }_0\dot{y}$ by total-time-derivative invariance of a Lagrangian; these do not change the Euler-Lagrange equations. The particle Lagrangian in a shearing sheet is thereforewith shearing-sheet tidal potentialThe second form follows from ${\Phi }_r=r{\Omega }^2$, the orbital shear parameter $q_0=-d\log \Omega /d\log r$ and the vertical epicyclic frequency ${\Omega }_z^2={\Phi }_{zz}$.

For inward accretion rate $\dot{M}>0$, the steady conservation of angular momentum equation is $\mathcal{G}=\dot{M}(h-h_{\mathrm{in}})$ when the inner torque vanishes. The viscous torque in an accretion disk is $\mathcal{G}=2\pi qh\bar{\nu }\Sigma$, where $h=r^2\Omega$ and $q$ is the orbital shear parameter. ThusThe familiar Keplerian accretion disk follows when $q=3/2$ and $h\propto r^{1/2}$. The general form also applies to the non-Keplerian Paczyński-Wiita circular orbit rotation law.

Vertical shear instability destabilizes differential rotation that varies with height, when buoyancy restoration is absent or sufficiently weakened. In the homogeneous incompressible flow model with background $U_y=-3\Omega x/2+q\Omega z$, an axisymmetric perturbation with wavevector $(k_x,0,k_z)\ne 0$ hasThe pressure-free radial/vertical momentum equation and the azimuthal equation give this result after using incompressibility. Growth requires $2q{k}_x{k}_z>k_z^2$, so a small vertical shear favors nearly radial wavevectors. Here $q$ is the vertical shear amplitude, distinct from the orbital shear parameter $3/2$. Stratification, cooling and boundaries can change this simplified criterion.