MHD instabilities of a cylindrical plasma with a realistic energy equation

The influence of a realistic energy equation on the stability of a cylindrical magnetized plasma in a force-free magnetic field is discussed. Thermal conduction, heating and line radiation are included in the treatment. Explicit growth rates for the m = O and m = 1 modes are derived and compared with the standard adiabatic or incompressible time-scales. Finally, the relevance of these results for laboratory and solar plasmas is discussed. (author)