‘‘Stabilization’’ of the lower-hybrid-drift instability in finite-β plasmas

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Abstract
The stability properties of the lower‐hybrid‐drift instability are reexamined for finite‐β plasmas. In contrast to previous results, it is found that finite‐β does not stabilize the instability in the sense that the growth rate becomes negative. Rather, as β increases, the fastest growing mode shifts to longer wavelengths and makes a transition to an ion‐cyclotron mode when the growth rate falls below the ion‐cyclotron frequency.