On Minimum-B Stabilization of Electrostatic Drift Instabilities

A check is made of a stabilization theorem of ROSENBLUTH and KRALL (Phys. Fluids 8, 1004 [1965]) according to which an inhomogeneous plasma in a minimum-B field (β ≪ 1) should be stable with respect to electrostatic drift instabilities when the particle distribution functions satisfy a condition given by TAYLOR, i. e. when f0 = f(W, μ) and ∂f/∂W < 0 Although the dispersion relation of ROSENBLUTH and KRALL is confirmed to first order in the gyroradii and in ε ≡ d ln B/dx z the stabilization theorem is refuted, as also is the validity of the stability criterion used by ROSEN-BLUTH and KRALL, ⟨j·E⟩ ≧ 0 for all real ω. In the case ωpi ≫ | Ωi | equilibria are given which satisfy the condition of TAYLOR and are nevertheless unstable. For instability it is necessary to have a non-monotonic ν ⊥ distribution; the instabilities involved are thus loss-cone unstable drift waves. In the spatially homogeneous limiting case the instability persists as a pure loss cone instability with Re[ω] =0. A necessary and sufficient condition for stability is D (ω =∞, k,…) ≦ k2 for all k, the dispersion relation being written in the form D (ω, k, K,...) = k2+K2. In the case ωpi ≪ | Ωi | adherence to the condition given by TAYLOR guarantees stability.