arXiv subjects

Frank Verheest

Publications and source records attributed to Frank Verheest.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

The Gardner equation and acoustic solitary waves in plasmas

Ion-acoustic waves in a dusty plasma are investigated where it is assumed that the ions follow a Cairns distribution and the electrons are Boltzmann distributed. Two theoretical methods are applied: Sagdeev pseudopotential analysis (SPA) and reductive perturbation theory (RPT). Since SPA incorporates all nonlinearities of the model it is the most accurate but deriving soliton profiles requires numerical integration of Poisson's equation. By contrast, RPT is a perturbation method which at second order yields the Gardner equation incorporating both the quadratic nonlinearity of the KdV equation and the cubic nonlinearity of the modified KdV equation. For consistency with the perturbation scheme the coefficient of the quadratic term needs to be at least an order of magnitude smaller than the coefficient of the cubic term. Solving the Gardner equation yields an analytic expression of the soliton profile. Selecting an appropriate set of compositional parameters, the soliton solutions obtained from SPA and RPT are analyzed and compared.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

Collisions of acoustic solitons and their electric fields in plasmas at critical compositions

Acoustic solitons obtained through a reductive perturbation scheme are normally governed by a Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation. In multispecies plasmas at critical compositions the coefficient of the quadratic nonlinearity vanishes. Extending the analytic treatment then leads to a modified KdV (mKdV) equation, which is characterized by a cubic nonlinearity and is even in the electrostatic potential. The mKdV equation admits solitons having opposite electrostatic polarities, in contrast to KdV solitons which can only be of one polarity at a time. A Hirota formalism has been used to derive the two-soliton solution. That solution covers not only the interaction of same-polarity solitons but also the collision of compressive and rarefactive solitons. For the visualisation of the solutions, the focus is on the details of the interaction region. A novel and detailed discussion is included of typical electric field signatures that are often observed in ionospheric and magnetospheric plasmas. It is argued that these signatures can be attributed to solitons and their interactions. As such, they have received little attention.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2016

Modified Korteweg-de Vries solitons at supercritical densities in two-electron temperature plasmas

The supercritical composition of a plasma model with cold positive ions in the presence of a two-temperature electron population is investigated, initially by a reductive perturbation approach, under the combined requirements that there be neither quadratic nor cubic nonlinearities in the evolution equation. This leads to a unique choice for the set of compositional parameters and a modified Korteweg-de Vries equation (mKdV) with a quartic nonlinear term. The conclusions about its one-soliton solution and integrability will also be valid for more complicated plasma compositions. Only three polynomial conservation laws can be obtained. The mKdV equation with quartic nonlinearity is not completely integrable, thus precluding the existence of multi-soliton solutions. Next, the full Sagdeev pseudopotential method has been applied and this allows for a detailed comparison with the reductive perturbation results. This comparison shows that the mKdV solitons have slightly larger amplitudes and widths than those obtained from the more complete Sagdeev solution and that only slightly superacoustic mKdV solitons have acceptable amplitudes and widths, in the light of the full solutions.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2012

Comment on "Head-on collision of electron acoustic solitary waves in a plasma with nonextensive hot electrons"

In a recent paper "Head-on collision of electron acoustic solitary waves in a plasma with nonextensive hot electrons" [Astrophys. Space Sci. 338, 271-278 (2012)] Eslami, Mottaghizadeh and Pakzad deal with the problem of the head-on collisions between two weakly nonlinear electron-acoustic solitary waves. Unfortunately, their treatment is deficient and leads to erroneous conclusions.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2011

Note on the single-shock solutions of the Korteweg-de Vries-Burgers equation

The well-known shock solutions of the Korteweg-de Vries-Burgers equation are revisited, together with their limitations in the context of plasma (astro)physical applications. Although available in the literature for a long time, it seems to have been forgotten in recent papers that such shocks are monotonic and unique, for a given plasma configuration, and cannot show oscillatory or bell-shaped features. This uniqueness is contrasted to solitary wave solutions of the two parent equations (Korteweg-de Vries and Burgers), which form a family of curves parameterized by the excess velocity over the linear phase speed.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv1994

Complete integrability of a modified vector derivative nonlinear Schroedinger equation

Oblique propagation of magnetohydrodynamic waves in warm plasmas is described by a modified vector derivative nonlinear Schroedinger equation, if charge separation in Poisson's equation and the displacement current in Ampere's law are properly taken into account. This modified equation cannot be reduced to the standard derivative nonlinear Schroedinger equation and hence its possible integrability and related properties need to be established afresh. Indeed, the new equation is shown to be integrable by the existence of a bi--Hamiltonian structure, which yields the recursion operator needed to generate an infinite sequence of conserved densities. Some of these have been found explicitly by symbolic computations based on the symmetry properties of the new equation. Since the new equation includes as a special case the derivative nonlinear Schroedinger equation, the recursion operator for the latter one is now readily available.

solv-int↗