Drift instabilities of a magnetized turbulent plasma

The authors investigate the influence of a developed high-frequency plasma turbulence on the spectrum and build-up of drift oscillations. It is shown that, even in the case of relatively weak turbulence, W/n0 Te ≪ 1 (W being the turbulence energy), there is a critical value Wcr such that when W > Wcr the spectrum and build-up of drift oscillations change radically. When W > Wcr, high-frequency turbulence may lead to stabilization of drift oscillations for large temperature gradients (d ln T/d ln n0 > 2). The analysis is limited by the assumption that the plasma electrons are magnetized, which means that a drift kinetic equation can be used in describing them. The authors consider the role of both potential and non-potential turbulent pulsations at frequencies of the order ωpe = (4π n0 e2/me)½ and the limiting cases of isotropic andone-dimensional turbulence. A new class of turbulent-plasma instabilities with non-linear drift is found.