Solitary waves in an ultrarelativistic degenerate dense plasma

Solitary waves in an ultrarelativistic degenerate dense plasma have been investigated by the reductive perturbation method. The modified Korteweg-de Vries equation has been derived and its numerical solutions have been analyzed to identify the basic features of spherical electrostatic solitary structures that may form in such a degenerate dense plasma. The implications of our results in compact astrophysical objects, particularly in white dwarfs, have been briefly discussed. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3491433]