Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2009
The problem of the linear stability of a plasma with density profiles
in a homogeneous magnetic field B = îzB0 has been solved exactly. The dispersion relation leads to stability criteria less severe than those obtained in the local approximation. As examples, we consider Bernstein waves and the low-frequency drift instability. In the second example the marginal stability curve
is given for different values of the parameters kx, Ri, Ri n′/n, with Ti = Te. Further, the same method is applied to a plasma with equilibrium distribution function in a linear electric potential φ = αx and a homogeneous magnetic field B = îxB0.