Orthogonal-field magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor dispersion relation ($({\rho }_{+}+{\rho }_{-})s^2=g({\rho }_{+}-{\rho }_{-})K-(B_{+}^2{k}^2+B_{-}^2{m}^2)/{\mu }_0$)

Consider uniform fields $B_{-}\hat{\mathbf{y}}$ below and $B_{+}\hat{\mathbf{x}}$ above an interface, with local constant densities ${\rho }_{-},{\rho }_{+}$. For ideal magnetohydrodynamics and local incompressible potential flow, the interface displacement $h{e}^{st+ikx+imy}$ has displacement potentials ${\chi }_{-}=h{e}^{Kz}/K$ and ${\chi }_{+}=-h{e}^{-Kz}/K$, $K=\sqrt{k^2+m^2}$. Magnetic flux freezing gives ${\mathbf{b}}_i=({\mathbf{B}}_i\cdot \nabla )\nabla {\chi }_i$. The linear magnetohydrodynamic total pressure is $-[{\rho }_i{s}^2+({\mathbf{k}}_h\cdot {\mathbf{B}}_i{)}^2/{\mu }_0]{\chi }_i$. Matching Lagrangian total pressure gives the displayed dispersion relation. For ${\rho }_{+}>{\rho }_{-}$ the most unstable orientation has its wavevector along the weaker field.

// Target: continuum-mechanics.bigb

For the density jump of a magnetic pressure discontinuity in an isothermal atmosphere, with $0<|B_{+}|<|B_{-}|$, the fastest Rayleigh-Taylor instability has $m=0$ and $|k|=K_{\ast }=(B_{-}^2-B_{+}^2)/(4B_{+}^{2}H)$. Its vertical decay length is $K_{\ast }^{-1}$. Hence localization relative to both common scale heights requires $4B_{+}^2\ll B_{-}^2-B_{+}^2$. This also makes its growth speed small compared with the isothermal sound speed. If $B_{+}=0$, the ideal sharp-interface dispersion relation instead has unbounded growth as $|k|\to \infty$: there is no finite maximizing mode.