Study of nonlinear electron-acoustic solitary and shock waves in a dissipative, nonplanar space plasma with superthermal hot electrons

Abstract

With the consideration of the superthermal electron distribution, we present a theoretical investigation about the nonlinear propagation of electron-acoustic solitary and shock waves in a dissipative, nonplanar non-Maxwellian plasma comprised of cold electrons, superthermal hot electrons, and stationary ions. The reductive perturbation technique is used to obtain a modified Korteweg-de Vries Burgers equation for nonlinear waves in this plasma. We discuss the effects of various plasma parameters on the time evolution of nonplanar solitary waves, the profile of shock waves, and the nonlinear structure induced by the collision between planar solitary waves. It is found that these parameters have significant effects on the properties of nonlinear waves and collision-induced nonlinear structure.