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Stability of an anisotropic plasma jet
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2009
Abstract
The stability of an anisotropic plasma jet has been investigated using equations of Chew, Goldberger & Low (1965) in both plane and cylindrical geometries. The main conclusions are as follows:
(i) For waves of small wavelength, when λ (the ratio of plasma density to the density of surrounding non-conducting medium) is much greater than unity, the plasma jet is stable only if 1/6(1 + σ) <p∥/p⊥ < 1 + 2σ, where p∥ and p⊥ denote the components of pressure parallel and perpendicular to the direction of magnetic field in the steady state, and σ denotes the ratio of magnetic pressure to the perpendicular component of plasma pressure.
(ii) When λ ≫ 1, the plasma jet is unstable if the parallel component of pressure exceeds the sum of the perpendicular component of pressure and twice the magnetic pressure of the plasma.
(iii) For long waves, we find that there exists an infinite number of growing and decaying waves. Expressions for the growth rates have been obtained.
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