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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
Parker (1966) has considered a simple equilibrium state of the interstellar gas and fields system, such that the magnetic field lines are parallel to the galactic plane; he has shown that this state is subject to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The gravitational pull of the stars on the gas and the buoyancy of the magnetic field tend to bend the field lines, allowing the gas to slide down towards the plane. The stability of equilibria with curved magnetic field lines remained to be considered.