Rotating plasma and gravitational instability

Abstract

A rotating plasma discharge produced with an independent electric field applied transverse to the magnetic field, shows an m=1 instability during the buildup phase. The growth rate of a high mode instability (m-number between 5 and 15) which occurs during the main phase of the discharge is measured in the local centrifugal acceleration. The results can be compared with the theory for the gravitational modes by Chem. The influence of the Coriolis force and of finite Larmor radius effects on the growth rate is discussed. A general survey of the development of the discharge is also given.