LINEAR-STABILITY OF THE HIGH-TEMPERATURE, DENSE Z-PINCH

Results are presented on the linear stability of the collisionless m=1 mode in a dense Z pinch. It is shown that a reduction in growth rate by a factor of about 10 (when compared to the zero Larmor radius result) is possible by initializing the Z pinch with a sufficiently low line density. With the completion of this work we conclude that linear, large Larmor radius effects cannot stabilize the high temperature, dense Z pinch. Such pinches will always exhibit linear m=0 or m=1 instabilities with growth times comparable to the radial Alfvén transit time. © 1995 The American Physical Society.