Soliton interaction in a complex plasma

Dissipative solitary waves in a two-dimensional complex plasma: Amorphous versus crystalline

The propagation of a dissipative soliton was experimentally studied in a two-dimensional binary complex plasma. The crystallization was suppressed in the center of the particle suspension where two types of particles were mixed. The motions of individual particles were recorded using video microscopy, and the macroscopic properties of the solitons were measured in the amorphous binary mixture in the center and in the plasma crystal in the periphery. Although the overall shape and parameters of solitons propagating in amorphous and crystalline regions were quite similar, their velocity structures at small scales as well as the velocity distributions were profoundly distinct. Moreover, the local structure rearranged drastically in and behind the soliton, which was not observed in the plasma crystal. Langevin dynamics simulations were performed, and the results agreed with the experimental observations.

Collisional positron acoustic soliton and double layer in an unmagnetized plasma having multi-species

This paper explores the head-on collision between two-counter propagating positron acoustic solitons and double layers (DLs) in an unmagnetized collisionless plasma having mobile cold positrons fluid, immobile positive ions and (\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$r,\;q$$\end{document}r,q)-distributed hot positrons, and hot electrons. By employing the extended Poincaré–Lighthill–Kuo method, the coupled Korteweg–de Vries (KdV), modified KdV (mKdV) and Gardner equations are derived to archive this goal. The effect of dimensionless parameters on the propagation characteristics of interacting KdV solitons (KdVSs), mKdV solitons (mKdVSs), Gardner solitons (GSs) and DLs are examined in detail by considering the limiting cases of (\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$r,\;q$$\end{document}r,q)-distribution. It is noted that the interaction of GSs and DLs are reported for the first time. The outcomes might be comprehended and beneficial not only in space and astrophysical environments but also in laboratory studies.

Head-on collision of compressional shocks in two-dimensional Yukawa systems

The head-on collision of compressional shocks in two-dimensional dusty plasmas is investigated using both molecular dynamical and Langevin simulations. Two compressional shocks are generated from the inward compressional boundaries in simulations. It is found that, during the collision of shocks, there is a generally existing time delay of shocks τ, which diminishes monotonically with the increasing compressional speed of boundaries, corresponding to the time resolution of the studied system. Dispersive shock waves (DSWs) are generated around the shock front for some conditions. It is also found that the period of the DSW decreases monotonically with the inward compressional speed of boundaries, more substantially than the time delay of shocks τ. When the inward compressional speed of boundaries increases further, the DSWs gradually vanish. We speculate that, for these high compressional speeds of boundaries, the period of the DSW might be reduced to a comparable timescale of the time delay of shocks τ, i.e., the time resolution of our studied system, or even shorter, thus the DSW reasonably vanishes.

Head-on collision of dust acoustic solitons in a nonextensive plasma with variable size dust grains of arbitrary charge

The head-on collision of two dust acoustic solitons (DASs) in a nonextensive plasma with positive or negative dust grains fluid including the effect of dust size distribution (DSD) is studied. The phase shifts for the two solitons due to the collision are derived by applying the extended Poincaré-Lighthill-Kuo (PLK) method. The influences of the power law DSD and the nonextensivity of plasma particles on the characteristic properties of the head-on collision of DASs are analyzed. It is found that the phase shifts can vanish, only for the case of positive dust grains, for certain values and ranges of the dust grain radius and the entropic index of ions (q_{i}). Also, they undergo a cutoff in the range of q_{i}>1 for the subextensive distribution. A brief discussion of possible applications in laboratory and space plasmas is included.

Head-on collision and overtaking collision between an envelope solitary wave and a KdV solitary wave in a dusty plasma

Head-on collision and overtaking collision between a KdV solitary wave and an envelope solitary wave are first studied in present paper by using Particle-in-cell (PIC) method in a dusty plasma. There are phase shifts of the KdV solitary wave in both head-on collision and the overtaking collision, while no phase shift is found for the envelop solitary wave in any cases. The remarkable difference between head-on collision and the overtaking collision is that the phase shift of KdV solitary wave increases as amplitude of KdV solitary wave increases in head-on collision, while it decreases as amplitude of the KdV solitary wave increases in the overtaking collision. It is found that the maximum amplitude during the collision process is less than sum of two amplitudes of both solitary waves, but is larger than either of the amplitude.

Collision of ion acoustic solitary waves in a magnetized plasma: Effect of dust grains and trapped electrons

The head-on collision of two ion acoustic solitary waves is investigated in a magnetized plasma containing trapped electrons and dust grains. For completeness, the fluctuations in dust grain charge are taken into account. By using the extended Poincaré-Lighthill-Kuo (PLK) perturbation method, an analytical expression is obtained for the phase shift that takes place due to the collision of the waves. How the phase shift behaves under the combined effect of trapped electrons and dust grains along with the finite temperature of ions is examined. A focus is given to uncover the situations of fluctuating charge and fixed charge on the dust grains in the plasma. Interestingly, the solitary waves acquire a larger phase shift and are delayed more in the case of dust grains having a fluctuating charge.

Head-on collision of dust-acoustic solitons in a strongly coupled dusty plasma

The collision between two counterpropagating dust acoustic solitary waves in a strongly coupled dusty plasma has been observed. The measured velocity and width of the solitary wave agree with the solution of the Korteweg-de Vries equation derived by using the generalized hydrodynamic model. The two counterpropagating solitary waves of equal amplitude merge into a single pulse with twice the individual soliton amplitude and then pass through each other. The solitons suffer a small time delay in propagation after collision. The measured delay time obtained from their trajectories is also presented.

Dislocation dynamics during plastic deformations of complex plasma crystals

The internal structures of most periodic crystalline solids contain defects. This affects various important mechanical and thermal properties of crystals. Since it is very difficult and expensive to track the motion of individual atoms in real solids, macroscopic model systems, such as complex plasmas, are often used. Complex plasmas consist of micrometer-sized grains immersed into an ion-electron plasma. They exist in solidlike, liquidlike, and gaseouslike states and exhibit a range of nonlinear and dynamic effects, most of which have direct analogies in solids and liquids. Slabs of a monolayer hexagonal complex plasma were subjected to a cycle of uniaxial compression and decompression of large amplitudes to achieve plastic deformations, both in experiments and simulations. During the cycle, the internal structure of the lattice exhibited significant rearrangements. Dislocations (point defects) were generated and displaced in the stressed lattice. They tended to glide parallel to their Burgers vectors under load. It was found that the deformation cycle was macroscopically reversible but irreversible at the particle scale.

Ideal gas behavior of a strongly coupled complex (dusty) plasma

In a laboratory, a two-dimensional complex (dusty) plasma consists of a low-density ionized gas containing a confined suspension of Yukawa-coupled plastic microspheres. For an initial crystal-like form, we report ideal gas behavior in this strongly coupled system during shock-wave experiments. This evidence supports the use of the ideal gas law as the equation of state for soft crystals such as those formed by dusty plasmas.

Head-on collisions of electrostatic solitons in nonthermal plasmas

In contrast to overtaking interactions, head-on collisions between two electrostatic solitons can be dealt with only by use of an approximate method, which limits the range of validity but offers valuable insights. Treatments in the plasma physics literature all use assumptions in the stretching of space and time and in the expansion of the dependent variables that are seldom, if ever, discussed. All models force a separability to lowest order, corresponding to two linear waves with opposite but equally large velocities. A systematic exposition of the underlying hypotheses is illustrated by considering a plasma composed of cold ions and nonthermal electrons. This is general enough to yield critical compositions that lead to modified rather than standard Korteweg-de Vries equations, an aspect not discussed so far. The nonlinear evolution equations for both solitons and their phase shifts due to the collision are established. A Korteweg-de Vries description is the generic conclusion, except when the plasma composition is critical, rendering the nonlinearity in the evolution equations cubic, with concomitant repercussions on the phase shifts. In the latter case, the solitons can have either polarity, so combinations of negative and positive solitons can occur, contrary to the generic case, where both solitons necessarily have the same polarity.

Plastic deformations in complex plasmas

Complex plasmas are macroscopic model systems of real solids and liquids, used to study underdamped dynamics and wave phenomena. Plastic deformations of complex plasma crystals under slow uniaxial compression have been studied experimentally and numerically. It is shown that the lattice becomes locally sheared and that this strain is relaxed by shear slips resulting in global uniform compression and heat generation. Shear slips generate pairs of dislocations which move in opposite directions at subsonic speeds.