Hydrodynamic instability during non-uniform growth of a helium crystal

Abstract

We analyze an analog of the hydrodynamic Rayleigh-Taylor instability for the liquid-solid phase interface under non-uniform growth of the solid phase. The development of the instability starts on conditions of an accelerated interface growth and if the magnitude of acceleration exceeds some critical value. The plane and spherical shapes of the interface are considered. The observation of the instability can be expected for helium crystals in the course of their abnormal fast growth.

Revtex, 5 pages, 3 figures