Drift-dissipative instability of an inhomogeneous plasma in a magnetic field

The drift-dissipative instability is one of the main instabilities of a plasma in a magnetic field. It is due to the density gradient of the plasma and can develop in the plasma in thermonuclear devices, in the magnetospheric plasma, in a gas-discharge plasma in a magnetic field, etc. The theory of the driftdissipative instability was developed about ten years ago. In the subsequent years this theory has been convincingly confirmed in experiments with gas discharges in a magnetic field and also in experiments with Q machines. In the present review, the main theoretical and experimental results obtained in the investigation of the drift-dissipative instability are presented.