Compressible Rayleigh–Taylor instability

The role of compressibility in modifying the growth rate of Rayleigh–Taylor instability is discussed. Compressibility can either enhance or decrease the growth rate. If the sound speeds in the two media are the same, compressibility can still have an effect, in contrast to ‘‘first-order’’ theory. Compressibility becomes less important as the density ratio between the fluids increases. Experimental results have shown that compressibility can enhance growth rates compared to the incompressible value.