SOME PROPERTIES OF LARGE-AMPLITUDE, NEGATIVE-POTENTIAL SOLITARY WAVESIN A 3-COMPONENT PLASMA

Large-amplitude, negative-potential solitary waves in a plasma contain ing positive and negative, cold, collisionless ions and isothermal ele ctrons are studied computationally and analytically. When their amplit ude and speed are large, both speed and width are proportional to the square root of amplitude. That is, amplitude is proportional to speed squared, while width increases directly with speed. Approximate expres sions relating these quantities are derived.