Envelope solitons associated with electromagnetic waves in a magnetized pair plasma

Tom Cattaert, Ioannis Kourakis, P. K. Shukla

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

The amplitude modulation of magnetic field-aligned circularly polarized electromagnetic (CPEM) waves in a magnetized pair plasma is reexamined. The nonlinear frequency shifts include the effects of the radiation pressure driven density and compressional magnetic field perturbations as well as relativistic particle mass variations. The dynamics of the modulated CPEM wave packets is governed by a nonlinear Schrödinger equation, which has attractive and repulsive interaction potentials for fast and slow CPEM waves. The modulational stability of a constant amplitude CPEM wave is studied by deriving a nonlinear dispersion from the cubic Schrödinger equation. The fast (slow) CPEM mode is modulationally unstable (stable). Possible stationary amplitude solutions of the modulated fast (slow) CPEM mode can be represented in the form of bright and dark/gray envelope electromagnetic soliton structures. Localized envelope excitations can be associated with the microstructures in pulsar magnetospheres and in laboratory pair magnetoplasmas.

Original languageBritish English
Pages (from-to)1-6
Number of pages6
JournalPhysics of Plasmas
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2005

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