Formation of solitons and shocks in toroidal ion temperature gradient mode in the presence ofnon‐Maxwellianelectrons

AbstractLinear and nonlinear phenomena are investigated in toroidal ion temperature gradient (TITG)‐driven pure drift mode. The model includes inhomogeneity in background magnetic field, ion temperature, and density. Finite Larmor radius effect is incorporated to understand the effect of low‐frequency wave on ion dynamics. Electrons are assumed to follow nonthermal distribution, that is, kappa and Cairns distributions. Dispersion relation is obtained to analyse the linear behaviour of the TITG mode in the presence of non‐Maxwellian electron distribution. In the nonlinear regime, exact solutions (soliton and shocks) are obtained (in dispersive and dissipative medium respectively) by using functional variable method to solve the nonlinear partial differential equation obtained for the system under consideration. Graphical illustrations are used to exhibit the characteristics of linear and nonlinear structures and their dependence on different physical parameters. It is observed that for TITG‐driven pure drift mode, rarefactive solitons are formed for both thermal and nonthermal electron distributions. It is also observed that variation of electrons from standard thermal distribution affects the propagation characteristics of linear and nonlinear structures in TITG‐driven modes. Results of our investigations will be helpful to understand the low‐frequency waves in inhomogeneous plasmas in the presence of nonthermal electron distributions which are frequently observed by satellite missions and are also observed in laboratory plasmas.