Electrons in regions of high phase density exhibit uncanny traits in the study of linear

and nonlinear drift waves in spatially non-uniform magnetoplasmas

W. Masood, Tahir Aziz, and H. A. Shah

Citation: Physics of Plasmas 25, 092306 (2018); doi: 10.1063/1.5052220

View online: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5052220
View Table of Contents: http://aip.scitation.org/toc/php/25/9
Published by the American Institute of Physics

Articles you may be interested in

The wavenumber of privileged cnoidal electron and ion holes—a nonlinearly nontrivial parameter
Physics of Plasmas 25, 094506 (2018); 10.1063/1.5051824

Resonant streaming instability in a non-degenerate quantum plasma including the electron quantum recoil effect
Physics of Plasmas 25, 092109 (2018); 10.1063/1.5046953

Announcement: The 2017 Ronald C. Davidson Award for Plasma Physics

Physics of Plasmas 25, 083503 (2018); 10.1063/1.5049502

Debye length and electric potential in magnetized nonextensive plasma

Physics of Plasmas 25, 094502 (2018); 10.1063/1.5036760

Nonlinear structures of lower-hybrid waves driven by the ion beam

Physics of Plasmas 25, 061209 (2018); 10.1063/1.5024237

Analytical and numerical study of perpendicularly propagating kinetic mode in magnetized plasmas with
Vasyliunas-Cairns distribution
Physics of Plasmas 25, 082101 (2018); 10.1063/1.5040585
 PHYSICS OF PLASMAS 25, 092306 (2018)

Electrons in regions of high phase density exhibit uncanny traits in the study
of linear and nonlinear drift waves in spatially non-uniform magnetoplasmas
W. Masood,1,2,3 Tahir Aziz,4 and H. A. Shah4
1
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Strada Costiera 11, 34151 Trieste, Italy
2
COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad Campus, Park Road, Chak Shahzad, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
3
National Centre for Physics (NCP), Shahdra Valley Road, P.O. Box 2141, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
4
Department of Physics, Government College University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
(Received 15 August 2018; accepted 6 September 2018; published online 25 September 2018)
Linear and nonlinear waves are examined on the ion time scale in a spatially inhomogeneous
plasma having electrons that follow product bi (r,q) distribution. It has been shown that the linear
dispersion relation for product bi (r,q) distribution undergoes appreciable changes as opposed to
the one for the Maxwellian electrons. It has been found that the drift wave frequency is highest for
flat-topped distribution, whereas it is lowest for the spiky distribution. It has been found that the
drift solitary wave with flat-topped distribution (i.e., r > 0) is one of a kind and exhibits peculiar
characteristics. It has been shown that Maxwellian and kappa-like electrons cannot alter the nature
of the electrostatic drift waves under consideration; however, the spiky electrons can. The results
obtained here are general and can be applied to many regions of space plasmas where the satellite
missions have reported the presence of electron distribution functions that show deviation from the
Gaussian behavior. Published by AIP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5052220

I. INTRODUCTION various low-frequency modes in a nonuniform magnetoplasma

and explained the way to obtain electrostatic drift waves from a
The importance of drift waves with regard to particle
general set of equations. It was shown that the parallel electron
and energy transport is very well established.1 Most of the
current associated with the electron drift waves is coupled with
plasma systems are spatially non uniform and give rise to
the ion polarization current. Nonlinear interactions between
drift motions and the allied drift waves.2–5 Drift waves on
drift waves and zonal flows were also investigated and it was
the ion time scale have frequencies much smaller than the
shown that finite amplitude drift waves can parametrically
ion cyclotron frequency and they propagate in the direction excite zonal flows in a nonuniform magnetoplasma.18
at right angles to the ambient magnetic field. The basic The modified tails of the distribution functions that are
assumption that is employed to obtain the dispersion relation usually termed suprathermal or non-Maxwellian plasmas have
for drift waves is that E  B drift is the most prominent drift. been observed in the magnetospheres of many planets of our
Unlike the ion acoustic waves where space charge effects are solar system and in the solar wind;19–21 however, the reason for
responsible for the wave dispersion, the dispersion of the the development of these distributions is still not fully under-
drift waves appears through the ion polarization drift. stood.22–28 The observed distributions of charged particles can
Ignoring the polarization drift will yield the dispersionless be adequately represented by a generalized Lorentzian distribu-
drift wave. The study of the nonlinear behavior of the drift tion and have been found to concur both with the thermal and
waves leads to the emergence of structures like solitons, the suprathermal parts of the observed energy velocity spec-
vortices, and shocks in plasmas. The literature is replete with tra.29–32 Besides the suprathermal tails, many satellite missions
the investigation of these structures in a variety of physical have observed electron distribution functions in space plasmas
situations of interest and the study of their properties.6–14 not only with the modified tails but also low energy electrons
Nonlinear drift waves in inhomogeneous plasmas have that exhibit departure from the Gaussian behavior.33–40 For
been investigated with the inclusion of a non-zero ion tempera- instance, cluster PEACE data have shown flat-topped electron
ture gradient. It has been shown that the presence of a nonzero distribution functions downstream of the terrestrial bow
ion temperature gradient induces a corresponding perpendicular shock.38,39 The flat-topped distributions are usually observed
thermal flux that significantly alters the transverse stress tensor downstream of the quasi-perpendicular terrestrial bow shock.
and, therefore, the perpendicular ion polarization drift must The reason for the development of these distribution functions
incorporate the corrections in the magnetic viscosity due to the has been shown to be adiabatic heating of the electrons in the
nonzero thermal flux.15 The decay instability and Kolmogorov shock layer.35,37 Non adiabatic heating processes have also
spectra of ion-drift waves were studied in low-b dusty plasmas. been proposed to account for the heating of electrons in the
In this regard, the matrix elements of the three-wave interac- regions of high phase space density.41–43 Flat-topped electron
tions in an inhomogeneous plasma with uniform ion tempera- distributions have also been found around the magnetic recon-
ture were derived. The growth rate of decay instability and the nection region in the magnetotail.44 It has been shown that vari-
weakly turbulent plasma wave spectra were also calculated and ous features observed in space plasmas can be satisfactorily
analyzed.16 Shukla et al.17 revisited the coupling between explained by (r,q) distribution.40,45

1070-664X/2018/25(9)/092306/7/$30.00 25, 092306-1 Published by AIP Publishing.

092306-2 Masood, Aziz, and Shah Phys. Plasmas 25, 092306 (2018)

In this paper, we have studied the ion drift waves in the We use product bi (r,q) distribution for electrons that
linear and nonlinear regimes in the presence of product bi closely resembles the distribution functions for many satel-
(r,q) distribution. The layout of the paper is as follows. In lites observed in different space plasma environments. The
Sec. II, we write down the model equations for our system functional form of the product bi (r,q) distribution is given
and also write down the functional form of the product bi by46
(r,q) distribution. Next, we derive the linear dispersion rela- 2 !rþ1 3q
tion of ion drift waves in a magnetoplasma with non- 1 pk2
2U
Gaussian electrons and also obtain the nonlinear KdV-like f ¼ A41 þ 2
þ 2 5
q  1 b mTk b Tk
equation for drift waves. In Sec. III, we present and discuss
"  2 rþ1 #q
the results and finally in Sec. IV, we recapitulate the main
1 p?
findings of the paper.  1þ 2
; (5)
q  1 d mT?
II. MATHEMATICAL MODEL
where U ¼ eu,
We assume an electron-ion (ei) plasma that is immersed  qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
in a constant ambient magnetic field. The direction of the back- A ¼ ðCðqÞÞ 2
2pðq  1Þ3=2þ2r mb2 Tk ðmd 2 T? Þ
ground magnetic field is considered to be in the z-direction,
     
i.e., B0 ¼ B0 ^ z and the wave propagation is taken to be in the y- 1 1 1
direction. It is supposed that the equilibrium density gradient is C q C 1þ C q
2 þ 2r 2 þ 2r 1þr
in the negative x-direction, i.e., 䉮n0 ¼ ^ x jdn0 =dxj. Note that  
1
the drift wave cannot propagate in one dimension as electron C 1þ ;
thermalization requires a non-zero component along the direc- 1þr
    .
tion of magnetic field. We use the ordering @x < @z < @y and 1=2þ2r 1 1
neglect the propagation vector along the magnetic field for the b ¼ ðq  1Þ 3C q  C 1þ
2 þ 2r 2 þ 2r
pure drift wave though it is non-zero.    1=2
The dynamics of singly charged ions can be expressed 3 3
C q C 1þ ;
by the following momentum balance equation: 2 þ 2r 2 þ 2r
   
@ 1 and
mi n i þ vi  r vi ¼ eni E þ vi  B0 ; (1)
@t c     .
1 1
where the symbols ni, vi, mi, and e represent number density, d ¼ 2ðq  1Þ1=2þ2r C q  C 1þ
1þr 1þr
fluid velocity, mass and charge of ions.    1=2
The ion continuity equation is given by 2 2
C q C 1þ :
1þr 1þr
@ni
þ r  ðni vi Þ ¼ 0: (2)
@t Tk and T? denote the electron temperatures along and
We employ the drift approximation, i.e., @=@t  Xi , which perpendicular directions and C is the standard Gamma func-
enables us to write the perpendicular ion fluid velocity as tion. We normalize the distribution function to obtain coeffi-
  cient A and come up with the restrictions on the values of r
c c @ and q such that that q > 1 and qð1 þ rÞ > 3=2. Note that the
vi? ’  ru  ^z  þ vE  r r? u ¼ vE þ vp ;
B0 B0 Xi @t product bi (r,q) distribution is a generalization of kappa and
(3) the Davydov-Druyvestien distribution function. It gives us
bi-kappa distribution at r ¼ 0 and q ¼ j þ 1. For r ¼ 0 and
where Xi ¼ eB0 =mi c is the cyclotron frequency for ions,
q ! 1, we retrieve the standard bi-Maxwellian distribution
vE ¼ c=B0 ðru  ^z Þ is the E  B drift, and vp ¼ c=
function from Eq. (5). Integrating the product bi (r,q) distri-
B0 Xi ð@=@t þ vE  rÞr? u is the ion polarization drift.
bution function [see Eq. (5)] over the velocity space yields
E ¼ ru, where u is the electrostatic potential. This
the following expression for the total number density of elec-
expression implies that we are dealing with electrostatic
trons under the ordering @x < @z < @y :
waves and it is assumed that the propagation vector and the
perturbed electric field are parallel to each other. Note that
ne ¼ ne0 ð1 þ c/ þ d/2 Þ; (6)
this is determined from the geometry of the electrostatic drift
waves given below the start of this section and the assump-
where / ¼ eu=Te ,
tion that @x < @z < @y .
The ion continuity equation can then be written as    
  1=1þr 2 1 þ 2r
@ c c ¼ 2ð1 þ rÞðq  1Þ =b C
þ vE  r n~i þ ^z  ru  rni0 2 þ 2r
@t B0      
  1 1 1
cni0 @ C q þ =C q  C ;
þ þ vE  r r2? u ¼ 0; (4) 2 þ 2r 2 þ 2r 2 þ 2r
B0 Xi @t
where n~i is the number density of the perturbed ions. and
092306-3 Masood, Aziz, and Shah Phys. Plasmas 25, 092306 (2018)

 
regions of high phase space density or behavior of low energy
d ¼ 2ðq  1Þ2=1þr ð1 þ rÞ2 =ð1 þ 2rÞb4
    . electrons for a fixed value of q. It is found that the drift wave
1 þ 4r 3 frequency is highest for flat-topped distribution, whereas it is
 C C qþ
2 þ 2r 2 þ 2r lowest for the spiky distribution. The kappa-like distribution
   
1 1 turns out to have a lower ion drift frequency than the flat-
C q C : topped counterpart but higher than the spiky distribution. It
2 þ 2r 2 þ 2r
can be seen that the frequency of ion drift waves is second
It is pertinent to mention here that after performing the highest for Maxwellian electrons. Owing to the paucity of
tedious integrations, we are left with just the parallel temper- space, suffice it to say that increasing the number of electrons
ature and we denote that by Te. Note that in order to obtain in the region of low phase density or enhancing q augments
Eq. (6), we have expanded the terms containing the potential the frequency of the ion drift wave for the kappa-like, flat-
up to the square order. It is appropriate to mention here that topped, and spiky distribution cases. The change in drift fre-
the index r modifies the behavior of the electrons at low quency for flat-topped distribution for the increasing q values
energies, whereas the index q alters the tail or the electron is less pronounced by comparison with kappa and spiky elec-
behavior at high energies. tron distribution functions. Note that unlike the Maxwellian
Finally, the quasi-neutrality condition is given by distribution, the product bi (r,q) distribution gives us a disper-
sion relation that contains the coefficient c which radically
ne ’ ni : (7) alters the behavior of the drift wave frequency with the
change of spectral indices r and q.
A. Linear analysis B. Nonlinear analysis
Assuming the sinusoidal variation of the perturbations, We focus our attention now to obtain nonlinear struc-
i.e., exp½iðky y  xtÞ and linearizing Eqs. (4), (6), and (7) tures for the drift waves on the ion time scale. Using Eqs. (6)
give us the following expression for linear ion drift waves in and (7) in the ion continuity equation i.e., Eq. (4), we obtain
the presence of product bi (r,q) distributed electrons:
c@t / þ 2d/@t /  q2i @t @y2 / þ vd @y / þ cvd /@y / ¼ 0: (9)
vd ky
x¼ ; (8)
c þ q2i ky2 The above equation has been obtained under the assumption
that @x < @z < @y and we have retained the nonlinear terms
where qi ¼ cs =Xi is the ion acoustic Larmor radius, cs containing the potential up to square order since we are deal-
¼ ðTe =mi Þ1=2 is the ion acoustic speed, and vd is the ion ing with weak nonlinearity i.e., /  1. The nonlinear terms
velocity due to background density gradient commonly in the above equation arise from the convective derivative
termed the diamagnetic drift velocity and is given by and the perturbed number density terms. In order to arrive at
ðcTe =eB0 Þjni and jni ¼ jd ln Ni0 =dxj is the inverse gradient the stationary solution, we use the variable transformation n
scalelength. Note that unlike the Maxwellian plasmas, the ¼ y – ut and convert the above nonlinear partial differential
expression of ion drift wave gets modified in the presence of equation (NLPDE) into a nonlinear ordinary differential
product bi (r,q) distribution. Since c contains both r and q, equation (NLODE) which reads as
therefore, it can easily be seen that the dispersion relation for
the drift wave gets affected by electrons both in the regions U@n / þ A/@n / þ B@nnn / ¼ 0; (10)
of low and high phase densities. Figure 1 exhibits the behav-
ior of ion drift frequency for different r values which essen- where U ¼ ð1  vd =cuÞ; A ¼ 2dð1  cvd =2duÞ=c, and B ¼ 1/
tially means changing the percentage of electrons in the c. A is the coefficient of quadratic nonlinearity and B is the
coefficient of dispersion. Note that although the untransformed
equation i.e., Eq. (9) does not resemble any standard nonlinear
equation, its transformed counterpart closely resembles the
ordinary Korteweg de Vries (KdV) equation. The solution of
this equation is given by
" #
3U 2 n
/¼ sec h pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi : (11)
A 4B=U

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this section, we will investigate the effect of changing
the percentage of electrons in low and high phase space den-
sity regions (i.e., changing the values of spectral indices r
FIG. 1. Comparison of the dispersion relation of ion drift waves for different and q of the product bi (r,q) electron distribution function,
electron distribution functions for q ¼ 3. respectively) on the solitary structures propagating in a
092306-4 Masood, Aziz, and Shah Phys. Plasmas 25, 092306 (2018)

spatially non-uniform magnetoplasma. We have selected the

plasma parameters that are representative of the ionospheric
F-layer.47,48 Before we go on and discuss the results, we
would like to mention that the values of number density and
magnetic field determine (which are different for different
space plasma environments) the ion acoustic Larmor radius
which eventually dictates the spatio-temporal regime and
also the values of the wave vector and the inverse scale-
length for the study of drift waves. However, the qualitative
behavior stays the same and, therefore, the present study is
qualitatively valid for the propagation of linear and nonlinear
propagation of drift waves in different environments in space
plasmas.
Figure 2 examines the behavior of ion drift solitary
waves with the increasing number of energetic electrons in FIG. 3. Solitary drift wave for the kappa-like electron distribution function
the tail of the distribution function i.e., increasing q values (r ¼ 0) for different values of vd =u with q ¼ 3.
and Maxwellian top i.e., r ¼ 0 or kappa-like electrons. It is
observed that such an arrangement produces rarefactive soli- for this case. It is found that the amplitude of drift solitary
tary waves in the system. It is found that, in terms of magni- wave does not alter significantly; however, there is an
tude, the amplitude and width of the drift solitary wave increase in the width of the wave with the increasing q val-
experience an increase with the increasing values of q keep- ues. Moreover, it is found that the drift solitary structures
ing the value of ratio of diamagnetic drift to nonlinear struc- form only for vd =u < 0 and soliton formation for the vd =u
ture velocity i.e., vd =u fixed. It is, however, noticed that we > 0 case is forbidden for the flat-topped distribution function.
cannot increase the percentage of energetic electrons too This type of behavior, as we shall see later, is a peculiar trait
much as for higher values of q, the normalized electrostatic of the flat-topped distribution function. Figure 5 shows the
drift potential exceeds one which indicates that those values behavior of the ion drift solitary wave for increasing q values
are not permissible for the weakly nonlinear study. Figure 3 with flat-topped distribution but for r ¼ 3. Interestingly, in
exhibits the behavior of solitary ion drift waves with the vari- this case, the amplitude of the drift solitary wave decreases
ation in the values of vd =u keeping the value of q fixed for with increasing percentage of energetic electrons in regions
the kappa-like electrons. It is found that the amplitude of of low phase density in this case. It is observed that this shift
drift solitary structures, in terms of magnitude, experiences a in behavior of the drift solitary wave for different values of r
decrement, whereas the width increases for the increasing is a complex interplay of the nonlinear and dispersive coeffi-
values of vd =u for kappa-like electrons. It is observed that cients. Figure 6 examines the behavior of the drift solitary
the drift solitary structures exist both for the values of dia- wave for flat-topped distribution with increasing values of
magnetic drift velocity less than and greater than the velocity vd =u. It is observed that the increasing values of vd =u miti-
of the nonlinear structure. gate the amplitude; however, they enhance the width of the
Figure 4 depicts the behavior of the ion drift solitary drift solitary waves. It is observed that the soliton formation
waves with the increasing number of electrons in the region for the weakly nonlinear limit is possible for a restricted
of low phase space density for flat-topped electron distribu- range of vd =u < 0 values. Figure 7 explores the behavior of
tion function (r ¼ 1 in this case). Unlike the kappa-like elec- the ion drift solitary waves for increasing values of the elec-
trons, compressive drift ion solitary structures are observed trons in the regions of high phase space density. This shows a

FIG. 2. Solitary drift wave for the kappa-like electron distribution function FIG. 4. Solitary drift wave for the flat-topped electron distribution function
(r ¼ 0) for different values of q and vd =u ¼ 0:98. (r ¼ 1) for different values of q and vd =u ¼ 0:3.
092306-5 Masood, Aziz, and Shah Phys. Plasmas 25, 092306 (2018)

FIG. 5. Solitary drift wave for the flat-topped electron distribution function FIG. 8. Solitary drift wave for the spiky electron distribution function
(r ¼ 3) for different values of q and vd =u ¼ 0:3. (r < 0) for different values of q and vd =u ¼ 0:8.

the flat topped distribution does not admit any rarefactive

structures for any range of r values.
Figure 8 studies the effect of the spiky electron distribu-
tion function (r ¼ 0.1) on the drift ion solitary waves with
increasing number of energetic electrons in the tail of the
distribution function. It is found that for this value of spiky
distribution, rarefactive drift solitary structures are obtained
and that the increasing number of electrons in regions of low
phase density enhance (in terms of magnitude) the amplitude
and width of the drift solitary waves. Like the kappa-like
case, it is again found that there is a narrow range of the vari-
ation of the energetic electrons for which the soliton forma-
tion in the weakly nonlinear limit is possible. Without
showing the figure, it is sufficient to say that the increasing
values of ratio vd =u enervate the amplitude, whereas they
enhance the width of the drift solitary waves for the spiky
FIG. 6. Solitary drift wave for the flat-topped electron distribution function
(r ¼ 1) for different values of vd =u with q ¼ 3. electron distribution function. This behavior is akin to the
one found for kappa-like distribution but very different from
flat-topped electron distribution. Figure 9 shows the effect of
change of values of spiky distribution on the behavior of the
ion drift solitary waves. Interestingly, as we enhance the val-
ues of the spiky distribution, the nature of the drift solitary
waves changes from rarefactive to compressive. This is the
unique feature of spiky electron distribution function that it
allows the formation of both compressive and rarefactive

FIG. 7. Solitary drift wave for the flat-topped electron distribution function
for different values of r with q ¼ 3 and vd =u ¼ 0:3.

very interesting and surprising result. For 1 < r < 2, the

amplitude of the drift solitary wave increases but for r > 2,
the amplitude of the solitary wave begins to decrease. The
width of the solitary wave for small r values is much less by FIG. 9. Solitary drift wave for the spiky electron distribution function for
comparison with width for large r values. It is observed that different values of r with q ¼ 3 and vd =u ¼ 0:8.
092306-6 Masood, Aziz, and Shah Phys. Plasmas 25, 092306 (2018)

Maxwellian case, the dispersion relation for the product bi

(r,q) distribution gets affected by the shape of the distribu-
tion function. It has been observed that the nonlinear drift
waves exhibit unique features for this distribution function
which are distinctly different from the Maxwellian distribu-
tion function. It has been found that for r ¼ 0, meaning the
kappa-like case, the behavior of drift solitary structures is
akin to their Maxwellian counterpart and in both the cases,
we obtain rarefactive solitary structures. However, the spa-
tial scales over which the nonlinear structures form in
Maxwellian plasmas have been found to be much longer
than the ones for the kappa-like electron distribution func-
tion. It has been shown that for r90 cases, the drift solitary
waves exhibit a fascinating deviation from kappa-like and
FIG. 10. Solitary drift wave for the Maxwellian electron distribution
Maxwellian distribution functions and admit both compres-
function. sive and rarefactive structures. The r > 0 case is particularly
unique in that it allows only the formation of compressive
solitary drift waves. Figure 10 shows the behavior of the ion solitary structures for a certain range of ratio of diamagnetic
drift solitary waves for Maxwellian electrons and it is drift velocity to nonlinear structure velocity ratio vd =u. It has
observed that we obtain rarefactive drift solitary structures in also been found that the major reason for the extraordinary
this case. It is, however, noteworthy that the spatial scales behavior of nonlinear drift waves in this case is the change
over which the drift solitary structures form for Maxwellian in the percentage of electrons in regions of high phase den-
electrons are much longer by comparison with the product bi sity where the majority of electrons reside. The kappa-like
(r,q) distribution. and spiky electron distributions have been found to be more
Finally, we would like to highlight some unique features sensitive to the change in the tail of the distribution function
of the product bi (r,q) distribution. It should be noted that and allow the formation of weakly nonlinear structures only
contrary to Maxwellian plasmas where the dispersion coeffi- for a narrow range of q values. The present study can be
cient does not depend on the shape of the distribution func- extended to study dissipative and dispersive structures like
tion, the dispersion coefficient of the product bi (r,q) shocks and vortices. The linear and nonlinear coupling
distribution does depend on the shape of the distribution between acoustic and drift waves in higher dimensions can
function. Note that r > 0 is a particularly unique case. It also be investigated.
shows features which are drastically different from the other
1
cases. Unlike the r  0 case, it shows that only a certain 2
W. Horton, Rev. Mod. Phys. 71, 735 (1999).
range of values of ratio vd =u are permissible for the existence L. I. Rudakov and R. Z. Sagdeev, Sov. Phys. Dokl. 6, 415 (1961).
3
B. B. Kadomtsev and A. V. Timofeev, Sov. Phys. Dokl. 7, 826 (1963).
of drift solitary structures. For the rest, the dispersive coeffi- 4
N. A. Krall and M. N. Rosenbluth, Phys. Fluids 6, 254 (1963).
cient becomes negative and hence gives rise to imaginary 5
F. F. Chen, Phys. Fluids 7, 949 (1964).
6
values of the wave potential. It is found that for Maxwellian B. B. Kadomtsev, Plasma Turbulence (Academic, New York, 1965).
7
H. Tasso, Phys. Lett. A 24, 618 (1967).
and kappa-like distributions, the drift solitary structures do 8
A. Hasegawa and K. Mima, Phys. Fluids 21, 87 (1978).
not show any departure from the usual behavior; however, 9
E. Marden Marshall, R. F. Ellis, and J. E. Walsh, Plasma Phys. Controlled
for r90 the behavior of the nonlinear drift waves shows Fusion 28, 1461 (1986).
10
unique properties. This means that changing r or the percent- J. Weiland, Collective Modes in Inhomogeneous Plasma (IOP, Bristol,
2000); G. Gloeckler, J. Geophys. Res. 88, 8871 (1983).
age of low energy electrons in the distribution function 11
A. M. Mirza, W. Masood, J. Iqbal, and N. Batool, Phys. Plasmas 22,
brings the major change. This can be understood by keeping 092313 (2015).
12
in mind the fact that the maximum number of electrons lie in Gul-e-Ali, W. Masood, and A. M. Mirza, Phys. Plasmas 23, 022302
the low energy range. Another important feature is that (2016).
13
W. Masood, S. Zahoor, Gul-e-Ali, and A. Ahmed, Phys. Plasmas 23,
unlike the r > 0 case, the r  0 cases show that the weakly
092104 (2016).
nonlinear structures are very sensitive to the change of per- 14
Gul-e-Ali, A. Ahmad, W. Masood, and A. M. Mirza, Braz. J. Phys 47, 617
centage of electrons in the regions of low phase density or in (2017).
15
the tail of the distribution function and it is observed that the O. G. Onishchenko, O. A. Pokhotelov, V. P. Pavlenko, P. K. Shukla, T.
Farid, L. Stenflo, F. F. Kamenets, and A. V. Bogdanov, Phys. Plasmas 8,
permissible drift solitary structures form for a very narrow
59 (2001).
range of q values. 16
O. G. Onishchenko, O. A. Pokhotelov, R. Z. Sagdeev, V. P. Pavlenko, L.
Stenflo, and P. K. Shukla, Phys. Plasmas 8, 4351 (2001).
17
IV. CONCLUSION P. K. Shukla, L. Stenflo, and O. A. Pokhotelov, Phys. Plasmas 8, 3519
(2001).
18
To recapitulate, linear and nonlinear structures of drift P. K. Shukla and L. Stenflo, Eur. Phys. J. D 20, 103 (2002).
19
waves have been investigated in an inhomogeneous electron- S. P. Christon, D. G. Mitchell, D. J. Williams, L. A. Frank, C. Y. Huang,
and T. E. Eastman, J. Geophys. Res. 93, 2562, https://doi.org/10.1029/
ion magnetoplasma with the inclusion of velocity spread of JA093iA04p02562 (1988).
electrons in phase space that is represented by product bi 20
M. Maksimovic, V. Pierrard, and J. F. Lemaire, Astron. Astrophys. 324,
(r,q) distribution. It has been found that unlike the 725 (1997).
092306-7 Masood, Aziz, and Shah Phys. Plasmas 25, 092306 (2018)

21 35
V. Pierrard, H. Lamy, and J. F. Lemaire, J. Geophys. Res. 109, A02118, C. C. Goodrich and J. D. Scudder, J. Geophys. Res. 89, 6654, https://
https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JA010069 (2004). doi.org/10.1029/JA089iA08p06654 (1984).
22 36
V. M. Vasyliunas, J. Geophys. Res. 73, 2839, https://doi.org/10.1029/ P. Savoini and B. Lembe’ge, J. Geophys. Res. 99, 6609, https://doi.org/
JA073i009p02839 (1968). 10.1029/93JA03330 (1994).
23 37
J. D. Scudder and S. Olbert, J. Geophys. Res. 84, 2755, https://doi.org/ A. J. Hull, J. D. Scudder, D. E. Larson, and R. Lin, J. Geophys. Res. 106,
10.1029/JA084iA06p02755 (1979). 15,711, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JA900001 (2001).
24 38
C.-Y. Ma and D. Summers, Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 4099, https://doi.org/ W. Masood, S. J. Schwartz, M. Maksimovic, and A. N. Fazakerley, Ann.
10.1029/1998GL900108 (1998). Geophys. 24, 1725 (2006).
25 39
V. Pierrard and M. Lazar, Sol. Phys. 267, 153 (2010). W. Masood and S. J. Schwartz, J. Geophys. Res. 106, A01216 (2008).
26 40
P. H. Yoon, Phys. Plasmas 19, 052301 (2012). M. N. S. Qureshi, W. Nasir, W. Masood, P. H. Yoon, H. A. Shah, and S. J.
27
P. H. Yoon, L. F. Ziebell, R. Gaelzer, R. P. Lin, and L. Wang, Space Sci. Schwartz, J. Geophys. Res. 119, 10,059, https://doi.org/10.1002/
Rev. 173, 459 (2012). 2014JA020476 (2014).
28 41
G. Livadiotis and D. J. McComas, Space Sci. Rev. 175, 183 (2013). A. A. Galeev, Radiophys. Quantum Electron. 19, 458 (1976).
29 42
S. M. Krimigis, J. F. Carbary, E. P. Keath, T. P. Armstrong, L. J. M. Balikhin, M. Gedalin, and A. Petrukovich, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 1259
Lanzerotti, and G. Gloeckler, J. Geophys. Res. 88, 8871, https://doi.org/ (1993).
43
10.1029/JA088iA11p08871 (1983). B. Lembe’ge, P. Savoini, M. Balikhin, S. Walker, and V. Krasnoselskikh,
30
V. Pierrard and J. Lemaire, J. Geophys. Res. 101, 7923, https://doi.org/ J. Geophys. Res. 108(A6), 1256, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JA009288 (2003).
44
10.1029/95JA03802 (1996). Y. Asano, R. Nakamura, I. Shinohara, M. Fujimoto, T. Takada, W.
31
A. F. Vinas, R. L. Mace, and R. F. Benson, J. Geophys. Res. 110, A06202, Baumjohann, C. J. Owen, A. N. Fazakerley, A. Runov, T. Nagai, E. A.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JA010967 (2005). Lucek, and H. Re’me, J. Geophys. Res. 113, A01207 (2008).
32 45
T. K. Baluku, M. A. Hellberg, and R. L. Mace, J. Geophys. Res. 116, M. U. Malik, W. Masood, M. N. S. Qureshi, and A. M. Mirza, AIP Adv. 8,
A04227, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JA016112 (2011). 055227 (2018).
33 46
J. D. Scudder, D. L. Lind, and K. W. Ogilvie, J. Geophys. Res. 78, 6535, T. Aziz, W. Masood, M. N. S. Qureshi, H. A. Shah, and P. H. Yoon, Phys.
https://doi.org/10.1029/JA078i028p06535 (1973). Plasmas 23, 062307 (2016).
34 47
W. C. Feldman, R. C. Anderson, S. J. Bame, S. P. Gary, J. T. Gosling, D. T. I. Gombosi, Physics of the Space Environment (Cambridge University
J. McComas, M. F. Thomsen, G. Paschmann, and M. M. Hoppe, Press, Cambridge, UK, 2004).
48
J. Geophys. Res. 88, 96, https://doi.org/10.1029/JA088iA01p00096 R. W. Schunk and A. F. Nagy, Ionospheres: Physics, Plasma Physics, and
(1983). Chemistry, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2009).