Linear and nonlinear development of m=0 instability in a diffuse Bennett Z-pinch equilibrium with sheared axial flow

The effect of sheared axial flow on the Z-pinch sausage instability has been examined with two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Diffuse Bennett equilibria in the presence of axial flows with parabolic and linear radial profiles have been considered, and a detailed study of the linear and nonlinear development of small perturbations from these equilibria has been performed. The consequences of both single-wavelength and random-seed perturbations were calculated. It was found that sheared flows changed the internal m=0 mode development by reducing the linear growth rates, decreasing the saturation amplitude, and modifying the instability spectrum. High spatial frequency modes were stabilized to small amplitudes and only long wavelengths continued to grow. Full stability was obtained for supersonic plasma flows.