Title :
Evolution of unstable ion acoustic solitons
Author_Institution :
Plasma Res. Lab., Australian Nat. Univ., Canberra, ACT, Australia
fDate :
2/1/1999 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
The evolution of a localized potential perturbation in a plasma of cold, kinetic ions and Boltzmann electrons is investigated computationally. We find that small perturbations evolve into a train of stable ion acoustic solitons, as predicted by the Korteweg-deVries theory. Large perturbations, however, are found to evolve into solitons that exceed the soliton speed limit. Such solitons are unstable and decay by emitting reflected ion bursts and ion acoustic waves
Keywords :
Boltzmann equation; plasma; plasma instability; plasma ion acoustic waves; plasma simulation; plasma solitons; Boltzmann electrons; Korteweg-deVries theory; cold kinetic ions; ion acoustic waves; large perturbations; localized potential perturbation; particle-in-cell simulation; plasma simulation; reflected ion burst; small perturbations; soliton evolution; soliton speed limit; stable ion acoustic solitons; train; unstable ion acoustic soliton; Acoustic emission; Acoustic waves; Electrons; Equations; Kinetic theory; Plasma simulation; Plasma stability; Plasma temperature; Plasma waves; Solitons;
Journal_Title :
Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
