Abstract
AbstractThe interest in the stability of coronal structures derives from their observed lifetime (much longer than the relevant hydromagnetic timescale) coupled with their active behavior. This fact implies that these structures must be globally stable with respect to fast and destructive instabilities and, at the same time, must allow some local, non-disrupting, dissipative process to take place. In highly magnetized media as solar and stellar coronae a large number of plasma instabilities can occur. The present review will concentrate on those governed by the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations with the inclusion of the effects of finite resistivity and viscosity and the use of an energy equation where radiation, mechanical heating and thermal conduction are considered.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)