A tearing mode energy principle for an axisymmetric finite beta plasma

A self‐adjoint, gauge invariant stability functional δWTG for determination of a sufficient condition of tearing mode stability is obtained for a plasma with arbitrary current and pressure profiles. The plasma is stable if there is no free energy available to support energy flux into the singular layer. The pressure gradient near the singular layer is found to be stabilizing. The tearing mode energy drive is extracted by casting the problem into its nonlinear context, demanding that both large and small solutions be continuous across the singular layer.