Radiative Instability of an Unbounded Jet Flow

Abstract

The problem of the linear dynamics of disturbances of an unbounded jet flow with a piecewise linear velocity profile is considered. The stable disturbances of a flow in an incompressible medium are so-called flow waves localized near a vorticity jump. In this work, it is shown that the amplitudes of these waves slowly increase in a compressible medium due to acoustic radiation; i.e., an instability appears. The asymptotic solution to the problem for small Mach numbers is represented in terms of Airy functions. An analytic expression for the growth increment of the disturbances is obtained.