Linear and Nonlinear Development of the M=0 Instability in z-pinch Equilibria with Axial Sheared Flows

Summary form only given. Sheared flows in plasmas can play an important role in reducing the growth of instabilities. Axial sheared flows in cylindrical configurations are especially of interest in studying Z-pinch plasmas with applications to fusion energy and fusion propulsion, as well as in understanding the behavior of astrophysical jets. We use a 2D MHD simulation code (MHRDR) to study the linear and nonlinear development of m=0 modes. In order to allow the modeling of high Mach number plasma flows, the code was modified to include the use of periodic boundary conditions and a Van Leer monotonic advection treatment. The initial equilibrium was initialized either with pure instability modes or with random perturbation modes. The growth, saturation, and mode interaction was studied using FFT analysis. This study extends the linear theory results previously obtained by solving the ideal MHD linearized equations.