Electron acoustic solitary waves and double layers with superthermal hot electrons

The problem of arbitrary amplitude electron acoustic solitary waves (EASWs) are discussed using Sagdeev's pseudopotential technique for a plasma comprising cold electrons, superthermal hot electrons, and stationary ions. The standard normal-mode analysis is used to study the dispersion relation for linear waves. It is found that the present plasma model supports EASWs having negative potential. The influence of superthermal hot electrons on the present plasma model is investigated for the existence of solitary waves. The investigation shows that the solitary structure ceases to exist when the parameter kappa crosses a certain limit. It is also found that the small amplitude double layer solution can exist in such a plasma system in some parametric regions. It is shown that solitary structures and double layers are affected by superthermality, as well as by relevant plasma parameters. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3527988]