The electromagnetic interchange mode in a partly-ionized collisional plasma

Abstract

A collisional electromagnetic dispersion relation is derived from two-fluid theory for the interchange mode coupled to the Alfven, acoustic, drift, and entropy modes in a partially ionized plasma. The fundamental electromagnetic nature of the interchange mode is noted: coupling to the intermediate Alfven mode is strongly stabilizing for finite perturbations of the magnetic field. Both ion-viscous and ion-neutral stabilization are included; and it is found that collisions destroy the FLR (finite Larmor radius) cutoff at short perpendicular wavelengths.