An alternative explanation for the density depletions observed by Freja and Viking satellites

Abstract

In this paper, we have studied the linear and nonlinear propagation of ion acous tic waves in the presence of electrons that follow the generalized (r,q) distribution. It has been shown that for positive values of r, which correspond to a flat-topped electron velocity distribution, the nonlinear ion acoustic waves admit rarefactive solitary structures or density depletions. It has been shown that the generalized (r,q) distribution function provides another way to explicate the density depletions observed by Freja and Viking satellites previously explained by proposing Cairns distribution function. © 2018 Author(s). All article content, except where other wise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licens