Head-on collision of two ion-acoustic solitary waves in plasmas with electrons described by Tsallis distribution

The problem of the head-on collision of two ion-acoustic solitary waves (IASWs) is addressed in electronegative plasmas with a nonextensive electron velocity distribution. Our plasma model is inspired from the experimental studies of Ichiki et al. (2001). Using the extended Poincare-Lighthill-Kuo (PLK) perturbation method, the phase shifts of the head-on collision are obtained. Analytical and numerical results reveal that the magnitude of the phase shift of the IASWs depends sensitively on the number density ratios μ and υ, the mass ratio σ as well as the nonextensive parameter q. For a given mass ratio σ≃0.27 (Ar+−SF6−), the magnitude of the phase shift increases with an increase of the nonextensive parameter q. An increase of the electron-to-positive ion density ratio μ lowers the phase shift, a trend which is much perceptible for q>1. As σ increases [σ≃0.89(Xe+−SF6−)], the phase shift becomes larger.