Two-stream instability with a growth rate insensitive to collisions in a dissipative plasma jet

The two-stream instability (Buneman instability) is traditionally derived as a collisionless with the presumption that collisions inhibit this instability. We show here via combination of collisional two-fluid model and associated experimental observations made in Caltech plasma jet experiment, fact, low-frequency mode indifferent to collisions. Despite collision frequency greatly exceeding growth rate instability, can still cause an exponential electron velocity rapid depletion particle density. Nevertheless, high collisionality has important effect it enables development double layer when cross section constricted by kink-instigated Rayleigh–Taylor