DETONATION - A MECHANISM FOR THE EXPLOSIVE RELEASE OF ENERGY IN A PLASMA

The explosive release of energy by a plasma is a common and striking o ccurrence. A novel explosive scenario is demonstrated in a simple syst em that becomes unstable to a line tied Rayleigh-Taylor-Parker instabi lity. The system crosses the linear instability threshold in a narrow region. Initially the instability grows in the narrow region. Two nonl inear terms become important at low amplitude. One nonlinearity causes the mode to grow explosively and narrow into finger-like structures. The other nonlinearity broadens the mode into the linearly stable regi on. The explosive nonlinearity makes the linearly stable region metast able. The combination of the two nonlinearities causes the mode to pro gressively destabilize the metastable region. Since this process is re miniscent of the detonation of chemical explosives, it is called deton ation. Without dissipation the kinetic energy released is proportional to (t(0)-t)(-6.4) (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.