MacCormack finite difference solutions of the non-linear one dimensional electrostatic plasma multi-fluid equations:solitons and recurrence
by
R. Naidoo
ML Sultan Technikon
Coauthors: S.Baboolal (University of Durban-Westville)

McCormack type discretization scheme was employed to solve numerically the one dimensional plasma fluid equations as a system of nearly hyperbolic equations with driving or inhomogeneous terms.The scheme computes solutions of the set of coupled fluid-Poisson conservative equations describing a one dimensional bounded electrostatic plasma comprising of electron-ion fluid species. These fluid equations are normalized to characteristic length and time scales corresponding to the electron plasma oscillations.

For various initial density profiles we are able to follow the evolution of the waveform over many time periods. We show that an initial large-amplitude double sinusoidal density perturbation evolves into a soliton profile and moreover, the states are found to recur in time.

Date received: July 21, 1999

Copyright © 1999 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # cadk-34.