Rayleigh-Taylor modes in constant-density incompressible fluids accelerated by radiation pressure

The paper examines the behavior of linear perturbations in an incompressible fluid undergoing acceleration by radiation pressure, with reference to processes occurring in quasars, supernovae, and planetary nebulae. It is shown that, contrary to prior expectation, fluids accelerated by radiation pressure, are not always unstable to Rayleigh-Taylor modes. Some are, in fact, unstable, but the nature of the instability is qualitatively different.