PPPL-3794rev is available in pdf format (864 KB).

Suppression of the Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability in the Presence of a Magnetic Field

Author: Ravi Samtaney

Date of PPPL Report: March 2003
Date of revised PPPL Report: May 2003

Submitted to: Physics of Fluids

We present numerical evidence from two dimensional simulations that the growth of the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability is suppressed in the presence of a magnetic field. A bifurcation occurs during the refraction of the incident shock on the density interface which transports baroclinically generated vorticity away from the interface to a pair of slow or intermediate magnetosonic shocks. Consequently, the density interface is devoid of vorticity and its growth and associated mixing is completely suppressed.