Drift Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities in space plasmas (Q1196349)

Three cases of instabilities are discussed in the presence of equilibrium electric and magnetic fields which are perpendicular to each other. In the first case, the magneto-acoustic instability in a plasma flow of finite \(\beta\) with homogeneous density and temperature is discussed and a dispersion relation is achieved and the instability criterion is established. In the second case, effect of the density gradient is studied on the electrostatic drift Kelvin-Helmholtz instability of a low- \(\beta\) plasma in the presence of equilibrium electric and magnetic fields and an instability criterion is obtained. In the third case, we discuss the magneto-acoustic instability of a high-\(\beta\) plasma with gradients in equilibrium density and magnetic field.