Effect of collisions with a second fluid on the temporal development of nonlinear, single-mode, Rayleigh-Taylor instability.

Goncharov's [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 134502 (2002)0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.88.134502] nonlinear model of a single-mode Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) is investigated for a partially ionized plasma in a predominantly neutral background. Terminal bubble and spike velocities are derived from the nonlinear equations in the case where the RTI dynamics is dominated by collisions between neutrals and ions. Direct numerical simulations are used to justify the use of Goncharov's model in this regime and observe its limitations.