On the existence of traveling wave solutions for cold plasmas

Abstract

The present paper is concerned with the existence of traveling wave solutions of the asymptotic model, derived by the authors in a previous work, to approximate the unidirectional evolution of a collision-free plasma in a magnetic field. First, using bifurcation theory, we can rigorously prove the existence of periodic traveling waves of small amplitude. Furthermore, our analysis also evidences the existence of different type of traveling waves. To this end, we present a second approach based on the analysis of the differential system satisfied by the traveling wave profiles, the existence of equilibria, and the identification of associated homoclinic and periodic orbits around them. The study makes use of linearization techniques, normal forms, and numerical computations to show the existence of different types of traveling wave solutions, with monotone and non-monotone behavior and different regularity, as well as periodic traveling waves.