Tilt stability of rotating current rings with resistive conductors

The combined effects of rotation and resistive passive conductors on the stability of a rigid current ring in an external magnetic field are studied. Numerical and approximate analytical solutions to the equations of motion are presented, which show that the ring is always tilt unstable on the resistive decay time scale of the conductors, although rotation and eddy currents may stabilize it over short times. Possible applications of our model include spheromaks which rotate or are encircled by energetic particle rings