Kinetic Stability of the Finite Electron Temperature Z-pinch

• Large Larmor radius (LLR) stability of linear m = 0 and m = 1 modes in a Z-pinch has been studied using the Vlasov-fluid model (Arber et al1994 Phys. Rev. Lett. 72 2399; 1995 Phys. Rev. Lett. 74 2698). Ions have been modelled fully kinetically through the Vlasov equation, and electrons are treated as a zero temperature, massless fluid. In the present work an improved Vlasov-fluid model is used to investigate the effect of finite electron temperature on m = 0 modes. An electron energy equation is introduced, and results for both adiabatic and isothermal dynamics are presented. It is found that finite electron temperature has a destabilizing effect in general. As a result, the Z-pinch is only weakly stabilized by LLR effects.

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Fysik

Physics

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