EXTERNAL KINK MODES IN A TOKAMAK WITH A RESISTIVE WALL AND A HIGH-BETA ROTATING PLASMA

The effect of the toroidal plasma rotation on the external kink mode i nstability driven by the wall resistivity is studied theoretically. It is suggested that this effect is related to the presence of side-band poloidal harmonics with singular points lying inside the plasma. Near the singular points we allow for plasma inertia and related toroidal effects. The ion Landau damping and its weakening due to the toroidal trapping are taken into account. High-beta effects near the singular p oints are allowed for. They cause the finiteness of the Mercier index s. It is shown that the influence of the plasma rotation on the extern al kink modes is most significant for s < O, i.e., in the situation fa vouring the development of instability in a non-rotating plasma.