Temperature-gradient instability induced by conducting end walls

Abstract

A new rapidly growing electron-temperature-gradient instability is found for a plasma in contact with a conducting wall. The linear instability analysis is presented and speculations are given for its nonlinear consequences. This instability illustrates that conducting walls can produce effects that are detrimental to plasma confinement. This mode is of importance in open-ended systems such as mirror machines and relevant to the edge of tokamaks where field lines are open and are connected to limiters or divertors and astrophysical plasmas like the ones of the flux tubes in a solar atmosphere, with the footpoints on the photospheric level.