Linear plasmoid instability of thin current sheets with shear flow

Abstract

This paper presents linear analytical and numerical studies of plasmoid instabilities in the presence of shear flow in high-Lundquist-number plasmas. Analysis demonstrates that the stability problem becomes essentially two dimensional as the stabilizing effects of shear flow become more prominent. Scaling results are presented for the two-dimensional instabilities. An approximate criterion is given for the critical aspect ratio of thin current sheets at which the plasmoid instability is triggered.