Generalized hydromagnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability (Q1113753)

The present paper investigates Rayleigh-Taylor instability of a fluid completely confined in an arbitrary region bounded by rigid walls in the presence of a uniform magnetic field applied in an arbitrary direction. It is shown that the results of \textit{S. Chandrasekhar} [Proc. Cambridge Philos Soc. 51, 162-178 (1955; Zbl 0074.423)], \textit{M. B. Banerjee} and \textit{N. L. Kalthia} [J. Phys. Soc. Japan 30, 1494-1497 (1971)], and \textit{R. Hide} [Proc. R. Soc. Lond. Ser. A 223, 376-396 (1955; Zbl 0067.202)] are of wider generality and applicability than the simple context in which they have been derived by these authors.