Physics Commons^™

Simulations Of The Instability Of The M = 1 Self-Shielding Diocotron Mode In Finite-Length Non-Neutral Plasmas, Grant W. Mason, Ross L. Spencer

Faculty Publications

The "self-shielding" m = 1 diocotron mode in Malmberg-Penning traps has been known for over a decade to be unstable for finite length non-neutral plasmas with hollow density profiles. Early theoretical efforts were unsuccessful in accounting for the exponential growth and/or the magnitude of the growth rate. Recent theoretical work has sought to resolve the discrepancy either as a consequence of the shape of the plasma ends or as a kinetic effect resulting from a modified distribution function as a consequence of the protocol used to form the hollow profiles in experiments. Both of these finite length mechanisms have been …