Lower-hybrid-drift instability with axis encircling ions

The stability of a cylindrical plasma to electrostatic flute perturbations in the ion-cyclotron to lower-hybrid frequency range is considered. The analysis exploits the large growth rates of these modes to reduce the governing radial eigenvalue problem from an integral equation to a second-order differential equation, but allows treatment of arbitrary ion Larmor radius to plasma radius. The fastest growing modes of the ion guiding-centers-on-axis model are shown to connect onto the lower-hybrid-drift modes of local slab theory. Numerical and analytical results for growth rates and most unstable mode numbers are obtained.