Collisional drift wave instability in an ultracold neutral plasma

Abstract

We study the linear stability of a collisional drift wave in an ultracold neutral plasma (UNP) with the aim of investigating the effect of strong coupling effects on its propagation characteristics. The dispersion relation obtained using the generalized hydrodynamic model for the ultracold ion dynamics is solved analytically in various limits for the real frequency and growth rate of the mode. It is found that strong coupling-induced viscous effects lead to a weakening of the growth rate and an enhancement in the real frequency of the mode. The impact is particularly pronounced in the “kinetic” regime, i.e., when the ion–ion correlation time is much larger than the wave period. In the regime where the density gradient is weak, we find that collisional effects can destabilize the transverse shear waves and longitudinal waves. We discuss the relevance and potential application of our results in future experimental and numerical simulation studies of UNPs.