In plasma physics, a drift wave is a type of collective excitation that is driven by a pressure gradient within a magnetised plasma, which can be destabilised by differences between ion and electron motion (then known as drift-wave instability or drift instability).
The equations which describe these waves a number of solutions, including ion-acoustic solitary waves,[1] and are roughly analogous to modons.
[2] The drift wave typically propagates across the pressure gradient and is perpendicular to the magnetic field.
It can occur in relatively simple configurations such as in a column of plasma with a non-uniform density but a straight magnetic field.
[3] Drift wave turbulence is responsible for the transport of particles, energy and momentum across magnetic field lines.
[4] The characteristic frequency associated with drift waves involving electron flow[5] is given by
is the wavenumber perpendicular to the pressure gradient of the plasma,
is the number density gradient of the plasma.
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