Nonlinear Dust-Acoustic Perturbations in the Vicinity of Comets

Abstract

Dust-acoustic solitons and nonlinear periodic waves propagating in the exospheres of comets are analyzed. Profiles of the potential of large-amplitude solitons and nonlinear periodic waves are obtained. Adiabatic trapping of electrons from the exospheric plasma is shown to be an important factor affecting soliton parameters. In addition, it is demonstrated that the characteristic values of the spatial and electrostatic parameters of solitons and periodic waves are sufficient for being detected by spacecraft instruments. The possibility of the appearance of dust-acoustic wave perturbations in the vicinity of comets should be taken into account when processing and interpreting the observation data.