Weakly nonlinear model for oscillatory instability in Saturn's dense rings

Phys Rev Lett. 2003 Feb 14;90(6):061102. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.061102. Epub 2003 Feb 14.

Abstract

Viscous overstability (oscillatory instability) may play an important role in the formation of small scale structure in dense planetary rings such as Saturn's B ring. We investigate the growth and saturation of such modes in local particle simulations. Starting from a hydrodynamic model, we develop a set of ordinary differential equations to model the evolution of the amplitudes of the linearly overstable modes in the nonlinear regime. The NASA/ESA space probe Cassini can make direct observations of these modes in Saturn's rings, including their sizes and temporal development.