Properties and Impacts of Ion-Acoustic Waves

Dear Colleagues,

Ion-acoustic waves are fundamental modes in both magnetized and unmagnetized plasmas, which have been investigated for almost a century. The goals of this special issue are twofold: 1. summarize the properties and impacts of ion acoustic waves, and 2. revisit them based on state-of-the-art modelling, observations, and applications.

Ion acoustic modes and resulting turbulence impact anomalous resistivity, turbulent heating, and transport. Non-thermal or supra-thermal particles, departure from Maxwellian distributions, Cherenkov interaction, and induced scattering by ions further enrich the topic.

Linear, quasi-linear, and nonlinear theories are supported by observations in Earth’s magnetosphere (magnetosheath, ionosphere, bow shock, plasma sheet boundary), in interplanetary space, in laser-plasma interactions, in magnetized laboratory plasmas, in dusty plasma (yielding dust-ion acoustic waves), and to some extent in astrophysical plasmas. Application to quantum plasmas is more controversial, in part because of the limitations of quantum hydrodynamics.

Ion-acoustic turbulence also provides a fundamental paradigm for a plethora of more specialized applications.

Although the topic has a long history, new developments benefit from improvements in computing techniques, and experimental diagnostics. They enable new approaches to remaining open questions, such as 2D and 3D dynamics, coupling with other modes, reduced or statistical modelling of coherent wave structures (solitary waves, solitons, phase-space trapping structures, including electron holes and ion holes, also linked to undamped Vlasov waves).

Dr. Maxime Lesur
Guest Editor

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• ion-acoustic waves
• ion-acoustic turbulence
• turbulent heating
• anomalous resistivity
• laser-plasma interactions
• space plasmas
• magnetized plasmas
• dusty plasmas
• quantum plasmas