dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaBGK Electron Solitary Waves Reexamined
| Authors | Li-Jen Chen, George K. Parks |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0103020 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0103020 |
Abstract
This paper reexamines the physical roles of trapped and passing electrons in electron Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal (BGK) solitary waves, also called the BGK phase space electron holes (EH). It is shown that the charge density variation in the vicinity of the solitary potential is a net balance of the negative charge from trapped electrons and positive charge due to the decrease of the passing electron density. A BGK EH consists of electron density enhancements as well as a density depletion, instead of only the density depletion as previously thought. The shielding of the positive core is not a thermal screening by the ambient plasma, but achieved by trapped electrons oscillating inside the potential energy trough. The total charge of a BGK EH is therefore zero. Two separated EHs do not interact and the concept of negative mass is not needed. These features are independent of the strength of the nonlinearity. BGK EHs do not require thermal screening, and their size is thus not restricted to be greater than the Debye length $\lambda_D$. Our analysis predicts that BGK EHs smaller than $\lambda_D$ can exist. A width($\delta$)-amplitude($\psi$) relation of an inequality form is obtained for BGK EHs in general. For empty-centered EHs with potential amplitude $\gg 1$, we show that the width-amplitude relation of the form $\delta\propto\sqrt{\psi}$ is common to bell-shaped potentials. For $\psi\ll 1$, the width approaches zero faster than $\sqrt{\psi}$.
{
"annotation_id": "5b885dbb-b630-4434-a973-c3ecf7b2cf37",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:00:36.236000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:00:36.236000Z",
"file_hash": "85045b25881e3fb9be94e0a662947a3f5e421bd3474907ca0a14cb435d1a0ad5",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "This paper reexamines the physical roles of trapped and passing electrons in\nelectron Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal (BGK) solitary waves, also called the BGK\nphase space electron holes (EH). It is shown that the charge density variation\nin the vicinity of the solitary potential is a net balance of the negative\ncharge from trapped electrons and positive charge due to the decrease of the\npassing electron density. A BGK EH consists of electron density enhancements as\nwell as a density depletion, instead of only the density depletion as\npreviously thought. The shielding of the positive core is not a thermal\nscreening by the ambient plasma, but achieved by trapped electrons oscillating\ninside the potential energy trough. The total charge of a BGK EH is therefore\nzero. Two separated EHs do not interact and the concept of negative mass is not\nneeded. These features are independent of the strength of the nonlinearity. BGK\nEHs do not require thermal screening, and their size is thus not restricted to\nbe greater than the Debye length $\\lambda_D$. Our analysis predicts that BGK\nEHs smaller than $\\lambda_D$ can exist. A width($\\delta$)-amplitude($\\psi$)\nrelation of an inequality form is obtained for BGK EHs in general. For\nempty-centered EHs with potential amplitude $\\gg 1$, we show that the\nwidth-amplitude relation of the form $\\delta\\propto\\sqrt{\\psi}$ is common to\nbell-shaped potentials. For $\\psi\\ll 1$, the width approaches zero faster than\n$\\sqrt{\\psi}$.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0103020",
"authors": [
"Li-Jen Chen",
"George K. Parks"
],
"categories": [
"physics.plasm-ph"
],
"title": "BGK Electron Solitary Waves Reexamined",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0103020"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "8b4738e6-4098-4c66-9b31-3ab12b24cafa",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}