Effects of a semi-infinite stratification on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in an interface with surface tension (original) (raw)

The study investigates the Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) under the influence of surface tension in a semi-infinite stratified medium. Employing an initial value problem approach, it incorporates continuum modes, revealing that surface tension modifies the traditional surface RTI modes into internal modes, changing established beliefs about the stability threshold. Consequently, the growth rate of surface RTI modes does not decay at the previously assumed cut-off wavenumber, leading to a slower asymptotic behavior of perturbations over time.