Gyrokinetic theory of slab universal modes and the non-existence of the Gradient Drift Coupling (GDC) instability

Abstract

A gyrokinetic linear stability analysis of a collisionless slab geometry in the local approximation is presented. We focus on $k_\parallel=0$ universal (or entropy) modes driven by plasma gradients at small and large plasma $β$. These are small scale non-MHD instabilities with growth rates that typically peak near $k_\perpρ_i\sim 1$ and vanish in the long wavelength $k_\perp\to 0$ limit. This work also discusses a mode known as the Gradient Drift Coupling (GDC) instability previously reported in the gyrokinetic literature, which has a finite growth rate $γ= \sqrt{β/[2(1+β)]} C_s/|L_p|$ with $C_s^2=p_0/ρ_0$ for $k_\perp\to 0$ and is universally unstable for $1/L_p\neq 0$. We show the GDC instability is a spurious, unphysical artifact that erroneously arises due to the failure to respect the total equilibrium pressure balance $p_0+B_0^2/(8π)=\text{constant}$, which renders the assumption $B_0'=0$ inconsistent if $p_0'\neq 0$.