Like a golfer who has just driven his ball into the sea at St. Andrews, an airplane that is
missing a wing, or a Hollywood marriage, this image is a picture of instability. More
specifically, this is a screen shot from a short
film demonstrating "Rayleigh-Taylor" (RT) instability.
In an eggshell, RT occurs when a high-density fluid is placed over a low-density fluid. As this condition is precarious, a catalyst can easily initiate instability causing the two fluids to switch places.
What exactly will happen when Rayleigh-Taylor is initiated is notoriously unpredictable because the math required is extremely complex, requiring such a large number of mathematical equations that psychedelic images like this one might begin dancing before your eyes. As a scientist would say: "They are complex for at least two reasons: non-linearity and an exceedingly large number of active degrees of freedom."
We're not exactly sure what that all means, but we do know that understanding Rayleigh-Taylor is important for more reasons than just intellectual curiosity. RT instability may occur in the earth's mantel, causing the formation of mountains. Further, the same forces which cause RT instability in fluids may also act upon asteroids which are entering the Earth's atmosphere.
Image courtesy Innovative Technology Solutions Corporation.
