The inhomogeneous ion temperature anisotropy instabilities of magnetic-field-aligned plasma sheared flow

Abstract

The stability of the magnetic field aligned sheared flow with anisotropic ion temperatures, which have the anisotropic spatial inhomogeneities across the magnetic field and are comparable with or are above the electron temperature, is investigated numerically and analytically. The ion temperatures gradients across the magnetic field affect the instability development only when the inhomogeneous is the ion temperature along the magnetic field irrespective the inhomogeneity of the ion temperature across the magnetic field. In this case, the instability is developed due to the combined effect of the ion Landau damping, velocity shear, ion temperature anisotropy, and anisotropy of the ion temperature gradients. In the case when the ion temperature along the magnetic field is homogeneous, but the ion temperature across the magnetic field is inhomogeneous, the short wavelength instability develops with the wave length less than the thermal ion Larmor radius. This instability excites due to the coupled effect of the ion Landau damping, velocity shear and ion temperature anisotropy.