Annual Progress Report

A number of topics in nonlinear and linear instability theory are covered in this report. The nonlinear saturation of the dissipative trapped electron instability is evaluated and its amplitude compares well with existing experimental observations. The nonlinear saturation of the drift cyclotron loss-cone mode is carried out for a variety of empty loss-cone distributions. The saturation amplitude is predicted to be small and stable. An improved linear theory of the collisionless drift instability in sheared magnetic fields yields the surprising result that no instability occurs for a wide range of parameters. Finally, the bump-on-tail calculation is shown to be unchanged by some recent results of Case and Siewart, and a rough time scale is established for the transition from the O'Neil trapping regime to the final time-asymptotic result