Small-amplitude supersolitons near supercritical plasma compositions

Abstract

Supercritical plasma compositions in parameter space are considered for a general fluid model consisting of an arbitrary number of species. This is done by applying a Taylor series expansion of the Sagdeev potential about the acoustic speed and the equilibrium electrostatic potential. A novel finding in this study is the description of small-amplitude supersolitons. Our analysis allows us to determine the plasma compositional criteria for such structures, as well as lower and upper bounds of their velocities and amplitudes. We therefore establish an interesting link between supercritical plasma compositions and the existence of supersolitons. The results are illustrated via a case study where plasmas consisting of cold ions and two Boltzmann electron species are considered