PPPL-3521 is available in <a href="PPPL-3521.pdf">pdf</a> or 
<a href="PPPL-3521.ps">postscript</a> formats.

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<b>Resistive Instabilities in Hall Current Plasma Discharge</b>
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<b>Authors:</b> Andrei A. Litvak and Nathaniel J. Fisch
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<b>Date of PPPL Report:</b> November 2000
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<b>Published in:</b> Phys. Plasmas <b>8</b> (February 2001) 648-651.
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Plasma perturbations in the acceleration channel of a Hall thruster are found to be unstable in the presence of collisions. Both electrostatic lower-hybrid waves and electromagnetic Alfv&#233;n waves transverse to the applied electric and magnetic field are found to be unstable due to collisions in the E x B electron flow. These results are obtained assuming a two-fluid hydrodynamic model in slab geometry. The characterisitic frequencies of these modes are consistent with experimental observations in Hall current plasma thrusters.

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