The Frequency of Nonlinear Plasma Waves

Abstract

We study steady-state plane nonlinear plasma waves in a cold collisionless plasma in the absence of a magnetic field. The main conclusion following from the performed analysis is that allowance for the motion of the ion component of the plasma is of fundamental importance when studying nonlinear plasma waves. It is shown that, in general, the frequency of waves is essentially determined by the ion-component mass and depends equally on the velocity and amplitude of the waves.