Kelvin-Helmholtz instability of relativistic jets - the transition from linear to nonlinear regime

Abstract

The observed wiggles and knots in astrophysical jets as well as the curvilinear motion of radio emitting features are frequently interpreted as signatures of the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability (eg. Hardee 1987). We investigate the KH instability of a hydrodynamic jet composed of a relativistic gas, surrounded by a nonrelativistic external medium and moving with a relativistic bulk speed. We show basic nonlinear effects, which become important for a finite amplitude KH modes. Since the KH instability in supersonic jets involves acoustic waves over-reflected on jet boundaries, the basic nonlinear effect relies on the steepening of the acoustic wave fronts, leading to the formation of shocks. It turns our that the shocks appear predominantly in the external nonrelativistic gas, while the internal acoustic waves remain linear for a much longer time. In addition, the external medium "hardens" as soon as the boundary oscillation velocity becomes comparable to the external sound speed. On the other hand, the amplification of internal waves due to the over-reflection is limited by a nonlinearity of the Lorentz $\gamma$ factor. This implies that the sidereal oscillations of the jet boundary, resulting from the K-H instability, are limited to very small amplitudes comparable to a fraction of the jet radius.