‘Phase’ model for structures generated by thermal instability in laboratory fusion plasma and ISM

Abstract

Thermal instability generates dissipative structures in different physical systems, in particular, in laboratory fusion plasmas and in interstellar medium. The ‘phase’ model proposed results in a system of algebraic equations for important structure parameters such as the medium temperatures in different phases, their extent and localization. Predictions of this approximate approach are compared with the results of one- and two-dimensional numerical simulations.