Linear Theory of Thin, Radially Stratified Disks

We consider the nonaxisymmetric linear theory of radially stratified disks. We work in a shearing-sheet-like approximation, in which the vertical structure of the disk is neglected, and develop equations for the evolution of a plane-wave perturbation comoving with the shear flow (a shearing wave, or "shwave"). We calculate a complete solution set for compressive and incompressive short-wavelength perturbations in both the stratified and unstratified shearing-sheet models. We develop expressions for the late-time asymptotic evolution of an individual shwave, as well as for the expectation value of the energy for an ensemble of shwaves that are initially distributed isotropically in k -space. We find that (1) incompressive, short-wavelength perturbations in the unstratified shearing sheet exhibit transient growth and asymptotic decay, but the energy of an ensemble of such shwaves is constant with time; (2) short-wavelength compressive shwaves grow asymptotically in the unstratified shearing sheet, as does the energy of an ensemble of such shwaves; (3) incompressive shwaves in the stratified shearing sheet have density and azimuthal velocity perturbations δΣ, δ v y ~ t -Ri (for |Ri| ≪ 1), where Ri ≡ N /( Ω) 2 is the Richardson number, N is the square of the radial Brunt-Väisälä frequency, and Ω is the effective shear rate; and (4) the energy of an ensemble of incompressive shwaves in the stratified shearing sheet behaves asymptotically as Ri t 1-4Ri for |Ri| ≪ 1. For Keplerian disks with modest radial gradients, |Ri| is expected to be ≪1, and there is therefore weak growth in a single shwave for Ri < 0 and near-linear growth in the energy of an ensemble of shwaves, independent of the sign of Ri.