Role of parallel flow curvature on the mitigation of Rayleigh-Taylor instability

The effect of a radially varying parallel equilibrium flow on the stability of the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) mode is studied analytically in the presence o f a sheared magnetic field. It is shown that the parallel flow curvature ca n completely stabilize the RT mode. The flow curvature also has a robust ef fect on the radial structure of the mode. Possible implications of these th eoretical findings to recent experiments are also discussed. (C) 2001 Ameri can Institute of Physics.