Saturation of the Lower‐Hybrid‐Drift Instability by Mode Coupling

A nonlinear mode‐coupling theory of the lower‐hybrid‐drift instability is presented. It is found that the instability saturates by transferring energy from the growing, long wavelength modes to the damped, short wavelength modes. The saturation energy, mean square of the potential fluctuations, and diffusion coefficient are calculated self‐consistently.