Electrostatic shock dynamics in superthermal plasmas
Electrostatic shock dynamics in superthermal plasmas
The propagation of ion acoustic shocks in nonthermal plasmas is investigated, both analytically and numerically. An unmagnetized collisionless electron-ion plasma is considered, featuring a superthermal (non-Maxwellian) electron distribution, which is modeled by a κ-(kappa) distribution function. Adopting a multiscale approach, it is shown that the dynamics of low-amplitude shocks is …