Oblique collision of modified Korteweg-de Vries ion-acoustic solitons

Two-dimensional propagation and oblique collision of modified Korteweg-de V ries (mKdV) ion-acoustic solitons in a plasma with negative ions have been investigated experimentally. At a critical concentration of negative ions, both compressive and rarefractive mKdV solitons exhibit a resonance interac tion at a particular amplitude when the colliding angle is fixed. The ampli tude is found to be equal for both compressive and rarefractive solitons. T he collided solitons suffer a positive phase shift during the interaction. The new solitons formed during the resonant interaction are found to obey t he energy and momentum conservation laws of the mKdV solitons for three-wav e interaction. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1070-664X(99)01309 -9].