Head-on collision of ion acoustic shock waves in collisionless plasma with pair-ions and electrons

TL;DR

This paper investigates head-on collisions of ion-acoustic shock waves in a collisionless plasma with positive and negative ions and electrons, analyzing shock formation, phase shifts, and effects of plasma parameters using derived KdVB equations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis of shock wave collisions in a multi-ion plasma using extended Poincare-Lighthill-Kuo method and derives relevant soliton solutions.

Findings

Negative to positive ion density ratio significantly affects shock wave formation.

Plasma parameters influence phase shifts and shock wave characteristics.

Both monotonic and oscillatory shock waves are observed depending on conditions.

Abstract

Unmagnetized collisionless plasma system consisting of positive- and negative ions, and electrons are considered to study the head-on collision of ion-acoustic shock waves (IASWs) and its effects on the formation of shock (monotonic and oscillatory) waves and phase shift. The soliton solution is derived from the two-sided Korteweg-de Vries Burger (KdVB) equations. The KdVB equations are obtained using extend Poincare-Lighthill-Kuo (ePLK) method. It is assumed that the negative ions are immobile and the electrons follow the Boltzmann energy distribution in the plasma. The effects of plasma parameters such as density ratios and kinematic viscosities on electrostatic shock profiles, phase shift, amplitudes, formation of shock (monotonic and oscillatory) as well as on the soliton solution are investigated. It is found that the density ratio of negative to positive ions plays a vital role on the formation of shock waves and phase shift after collision.