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Similarity of Rayleigh-Taylor Instability Development on Scales from 1 mm to One Light Year
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International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics·Volume 01 (2011)·Pages 173–176·Published 22 December 2011·DOI10.4236/ijaa.2011.14022
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Abstract
In this paper, we describe three different phenomena occurring on scales of 1 mm, 100 km, and almost a light year. The smallest scale is a laboratory experiment. The intermediate scale is a rocket-borne space experiment and the largest is an exploding star. In each case, deceleration creates a situation that is unstable to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The similarity exists in the spatial and in the Fourier domains; that is, not only are there obvious spatial similarities but the power spectra of the two phenomena are also nearly identical. The data compare favorably to published simulations.
KeywordsRayleigh-Taylor InstabilityDecelerating FluidExploding StarActive Experiment
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