RM instabilities are shock-generated instabilities at the interface between 2 gases of different densities. Shock refraction at the interface results in the formation of a vortex sheet that becomes turbulent. Classically, the interface was treated to be sinusoidal or planar in shape. A model for the circulation deposition was developed for fundamental configurations like planar and sinusoidal interfaces (Samtaney, Ray & Zabusky, Phys. Flds., 10(5):1217-1230, 1998)
These fundamental results were applied shock interaction with elliptical cylinders. These proved rich in shock-competitive phenomena, which modified circulation deposition behavior. The interactions were simplified and the fundamental models applied to these. (Ray, Samtaney & Zabusky, Phys. Flds, 12(3):707-716, 2000).
A Mach 10 crushing a 10x elliptical bubble. Density plot with contour at the material interface
RM under reshock (when the interface is shocked for a second time) is a matter of ongoing research. A dramatic increase in turbulence is observed under most case, though certain configurations have been shown to nearly ``freeze-out'' i.e the growth rate of the instability is small. Efforts are under way to develop a vortex dynamical explanation of this behavior. Reshock is also studied by reaccelerating liquids of disimilar densities. A discussion of the similarities and discrepancies between the incompressible and compressible interactions for low Mach number shocks can be found in Kotelnikov, Ray & Zabusky, Phys. Flds. 12(12):3245-3264
A listing of my Richtmyer-Meshkov work :
- Richtmyer-Meshkov instabilities at planar interfaces.
- Richtmyer-Meshkov instabilities at sinusoidal interfaces.
- Shock interactions with circular bubbles.
- Shock interactions with elliptical bubbles.
- A feature-tracked analysis of shock-ellipse interaction.