Effects of Hall currents and Coriolis forces on the instability of a self-gravitating plasma of variable density

Abstract

The hydromagnetic instability of a self-gravitating, incompressible rotating plasma of variable density has been examined in the presence of Hall currents. The system is assumed to be permeated by a variable horizontal magnetic field. The solution of the relevant linearized perturbation equations has been obtained by the normal mode technique through a variational principle which is shown to characterize the problem. Proper solutions have been obtained for a semi-infinite plasma having exponential density stratification along the vertical. The dispersion relation has been derived and solved numerically for different values of the physical parameters involved. It is found that Hall currents and Coriolis forces have both destabilizing influence as the growth rate of the unstable modes is found to increase with the increase of both Hall currents and Coriolis forces.