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Title: Ion acoustic solitons in a plasma with finite temperature drifting ions: Limit on ion drift velocity

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.870764· OSTI ID:6930405
; ;  [1]
  1. Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi-110016 (India)

Propagation of ion acoustic solitons in a plasma consisting of finite temperature drifting ions and nondrifting electrons has been studied. It is shown that in addition to the electron inertia and weak relativistic effects, the ion temperature also modifies the soliton behavior. By including the finite ion temperature, limit for the ion drift velocity [ital u][sub 0] for which the ion acoustic solitons are possible, is obtained. The solitons can exist for [ital v][sub [ital Te]][le][ital u][sub 0][le][vert bar][ital u][sub 0 max][vert bar], where [ital v][sub [ital Te]] is the electron thermal velocity and [ital u][sub 0 max] is the maximum value of the ion drift velocity. The maximum value of this velocity is decided by the ion temperature. Under the limiting conditions, the Korteweg--deVries (KdV) equation is derived for one-dimensional ion acoustic soliton. Expressions are obtained for the soliton phase velocity, peak soliton amplitude, soliton width, and the soliton energy. The present results correspond to those of the previous investigations under appropriate plasma conditions.

OSTI ID:
6930405
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas; (United States), Vol. 1:5; ISSN 1070-664X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English