We consider the stability of a configuration consisting of a vertical magnetic field in a planar flow on elliptical streamlines in ideal hydromagnetics. In the absence of a magnetic field the elliptical flow is universally unstable (the “elliptical instability”). We find this universal instability persists in the presence of magnetic fields of arbitrary strength, although the growthrate decreas...

Previous studies of the flow created inside a cylindrical cavity ~radius R , height H) of fluid by a single rotating end wall have shown that over a range of cylinder aspect ratios 1.6&H/R&2.8, the first unsteady flows to bifurcate with increasing Reynolds number retain axisymmetry, and subsequent bifurcations break axisymmetry to give solutions with modulated rotating wave ~MRW! states. The un...

Cylindrical liquid jets are inherently unstable and eventually break into drops due to the Rayleigh-Plateau instability, characterized by the growth of disturbances that are either convective or absolute in nature. Convective instabilities grow in amplitude as they are swept along by the flow, while absolute instabilities are disturbances that grow at a fixed spatial location. Liquid jets are n...