Magnetohydrodynamic instability in differentially rotating compressible flow

Transport of angular momentum is one of the thrust areas of astrophysical flows. Instabilities and hence the turbulence generated by it has been invoked to understand its role in angular momentum transport in hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic regime. Investigation of an unexplored region described by the parameter space $\Omega_e^2 < 0$, $\Omega_e$ being the epicyclic frequency, resulted in a powerful magnetohydrodynamic instability. The growth rate of this instability is rather large and is found to depend on the wavenumber.