Resistive Instabilities and Solar Flares

The study of plasma instabilities described by the inclusion of a finite conductivity in the hydromagnetic equations has aroused considerable interest since the initial work of Furth, Killeen and Rosenbluth for a two-dimensional geometry. In particular, the so-called ‘tearing’ mode, which has been observed in laboratory plasmas, has been suggested as a possible source of energy for solar flares.