Instability of a Partially Ionized Plasma in Crossed Electric and Magnetic Fields

A weakly ionized plasma in a uniform magnetic field is considered. Application of a potential across the magnetic field results in a steady current flow, owing to the finite conductivity. It is shown that this steady state is unstable if the plasma density is nonuniform in the direction of the applied electric field and if the applied potential is large enough. It is necessary that the sign of the product of the electric field and the density gradient be positive.