Acoustic Solitary Waves and Sagdeev Potential Triple Roots

Journal Article · Tue Dec 14 00:00:00 EST 2010 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3533193· OSTI ID:21506957

Hellberg, M A ^[1]; Baluku, T K ^[2]; Verheest, F ^[3]

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1. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4001 (South Africa)
2. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban (South Africa) and Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara (Uganda)
3. Universiteit Gent, B-9000 Gent, Belgium, and University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban (South Africa)

Both KdV theory and the standard pseudopotential theory require that solitons and double layers be explicitly super-acoustic, with the pseudopotential {psi}({phi},M) having a maximum at the origin. Recent studies of a variety of different three-component plasmas have shown that they may support finite amplitude solitons at the true acoustic speed of the plasma configuration, M{sub s}. These are associated with triple roots of the Sagdeev potential, and the usual soliton condition is replaced by {psi}''(0,M){<=}0. Sagdeev potentials for speeds marginally greater than M{sub s} then represent solitons of both polarities, one whose amplitude vanishes at M{sub s}(KdV-like), while the other is necessarily finite at M{sub s}('nonKdV-like'). Such coexistence regions have been observed to be linked to a critical plasma compositional parameter value for which {psi}'''(0,M{sub s}) = 0.

• OSTI ID: 21506957
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1306, Issue 1; Conference: Workshop on new frontiers in advanced plasma physics, Trieste (Italy), 5-16 Jul 2010; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3533193; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
AMPLITUDES
CONFIGURATION
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS
KORTEWEG-DE VRIES EQUATION
LAYERS
MACH NUMBER
PLASMA
SOLITONS
STANDARD MODEL
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS
EQUATIONS
FIELD THEORIES
GRAND UNIFIED THEORY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MATHEMATICS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PARTICLE MODELS
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
QUASI PARTICLES
UNIFIED GAUGE MODELS
VELOCITY