Three-dimensional singularities of a thin plasma slab - art. no. 016415

The three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear development of the interchangelike (Ra yleigh-Taylor) instability of a thin slab of plasma exhibits interesting fe atures with respect to its two-dimensional (2D) limit investigated by Bulan ov, Pegoraro, and Sakai [Phys. Rev. E 59, 2292 (1999)]. We show that, contr ary to the 2D case, the 3D evolution equations remain nonlinear when Lagran gian variables are adopted. Explicit solutions are found by the use of a ge neralized hodograph transformation. Both compression and rarefaction singul arities are formed. Local solutions in the neighborhood of the singular poi nts have a generic 2D character.