Arbitrary amplitude ion-acoustic waves in a plasma with nonthermal electrons

We investigated the effect of the presence of a nonthermal electron population on the electrostatic nonlinear waves. We considered positively charged ions with two electron populations. Using the fluid equations for the unmagnetized case and the Sagdeev pseudo-potential approach the nonlinear ion-ac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advances in space research 2010-03, Vol.45 (6), p.785-789
Main Authors: Ali-Fedela, D., Marif, H., Djebli, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amplitudes
Astronomy
Computational fluid dynamics
Earth, ocean, space
Electron density
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Fluid flow
Fluids
Hot electrons
Ionosphere
Mathematical analysis
Nonlinear waves
Nonlinearity
Nonthermal distribution
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Summary:We investigated the effect of the presence of a nonthermal electron population on the electrostatic nonlinear waves. We considered positively charged ions with two electron populations. Using the fluid equations for the unmagnetized case and the Sagdeev pseudo-potential approach the nonlinear ion-acoustic waves are studied. The cold electrons are in thermal equilibrium while the hot electron population follows a nonthermal distribution. Numerical investigation shows the importance of the presence of small amount of cold electrons that make it possible for the plasma to support nonlinear waves. We obtained the minimum cold electron density necessary to sustain these nonlinear waves. The relevant situation corresponds to the upper ionosphere where energetic electrons have been observed.
ISSN:0273-1177
1879-1948
DOI:10.1016/j.asr.2009.10.017