Local analysis of the magnetic instability in rotating magneto-hydrodynamics with the short-wavelength approximation

Abstract: We investigate analytically the magnetic instability in a rotating and electrically conducting fluid induced by an imposed magnetic field with its associated electric current. The short-wavelength approximation is used in the linear stability analysis, i.e. the length scale of the imposed field is much larger than the wavelength of perturbations. The dispersion relationship is derived and then simplified to give the criteria for the onset of the magnetic instability in three cases of imposed field, namely the axial dependence, the radial dependence and the mixed case. The orientation of rotation, imposed field and imposed current is important for this instability.