  Flow nonnormality induced linear transient phenomena in thin self-gravitating
astrophysical discs are studied in the shearing sheet approximation. The
considered system includes two modes of perturbations: vortex and (spiral
density) wave. It is shown that self-gravity considerably alters the vortex
mode dynamics -- its transient (swing) growth may be several orders of
magnitude stronger than in the non-self-gravitating case and 2-3 times larger
than the transient growth of the wave mode. Based on this finding, we comment
on the role of vortex mode perturbations in a gravitoturbulent state. Also
described is the linear coupling of the perturbation modes, caused by the
differential character of disc rotation. The coupling is asymmetric -- vortex
mode perturbations are able to excite wave mode ones, but not vice versa. This
asymmetric coupling lends additional significance to the vortex mode as a
participant in spiral density waves and shocks manifestations in astrophysical
discs.
