Soliton-induced electric currents in plasma

Abstract

This is a theoretical study of the nonequilibrium motion of charged particles in an electric field of solitons. We show that the self-consistent electric field of ion-acoustic and electron-acoustic solitons is characterized by one-way transfer of charged particles at a distance of several Debye radii. The dependence of relevant local currents on the amplitude of solitons is determined. We consider the practically important case of a moving cascade consisting of many solitons and show that the induced currents have a significant constant component. The kinetic energy acquired by charged particles in the soliton field is calculated. The temporal resolution required for the recording of soliton-induced currents is estimated. The calculations presented here can be used to interpret the results of experiments conducted to study solitons in the space plasma.