On the capillary stability of a cylindrical dielectric liquid jet in a longitudinal electrostatic field

A dispersion relation is derived for capillary waves with arbitrary symmetry (with arbitrary azimuthal numbers) on the surface of a cylindrical jet of an ideal incompressible dielectric liquid subjected to an electrostatic field aligned with the symmetry axis of the jet. It is shown that only long axisymmetric waves can experience capillary instability in such a system. The wavenumber range into which unstable waves fall begins with a zero value, and its width depends on the permittivities of the liquid and ambient and on the electrostatic field strength squared. As the field strength grows, the wavenumber range for unstable waves rapidly narrows and the capillary instability growth rate, as well as the wavenumber of the wave with the greatest growth rate, decreases.