  The main characteristics of the linear Darrieus-Landau instability in the
laser ablation flow are investigated. The dispersion relation of the
instability is found numerically as a solution to an eigenvalue stability
problem, taking into account the continuous structure of the flow. The results
are compared to the classical Darrieus-Landau instability of a usual slow
flame. The difference between the two cases is due to the specific features of
laser ablation: high plasma compression and strong temperature dependence of
electron thermal conduction. It is demonstrated that the Darrieus-Landau
instability in laser ablation is much stronger than in the classical case. In
particular, the maximum growth rate in the case of laser ablation is about
three times larger than that for slow flames. The characteristic length scale
of the Darrieus-Landau instability in the ablation flow is comparable to the
total distance from the ablation zone to the critical zone of laser light
absorption. The possibility of experimental observations of the Darrieus-Landau
instability in laser ablation is discussed.
