Interactions of nonlinear ion-acoustic waves in a collisionless plasma

In the present work, based on a one-dimensional model, the interaction of two solitary waves propagating in opposite directions in a collisionless plasma is investigated by use of the extended Poincaré-Lighthill-Kuo (PLK) method. It is shown that bi-directional solitary waves are propagated and the head-on collision of these two solitons occur. The phase shifts and the trajectories of these two solitons after the collision are obtained.