Instabilities

Abstract

The stability of a plasma system can be analyzed by different methods. For a simple mechanical system, such as the pendulum consisting of a massless rod and a bob shown in Fig. 8.1a, stability is defined by the property that a deflection from the equilibrium position (shown in grey) leads to a restoring force F rest, which drives the pendulum back to its original position. The interplay of a restoring force, which is proportional to the deflection, and the inertia of the pendulum bob leads to harmonic oscillations.