Electron-acoustic solitary waves in a nonextensive plasma

The problem of arbitrary amplitude electron-acoustic solitary waves (EASWs) in a plasma having cold fluid electrons, hot nonextensive electrons, and stationary ions is addressed. It is found that the Maxwellianization process of the hot nonextensive component does not favor the propagation of the EASWs. In contrast to superthermality, nonextensivity makes the electron-acoustic solitary structure less spiky. Our theoretical analysis brings a possibility to develop more refined theories of nonlinear solitary structures in astrophysical plasmas. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3522777]