Linear and Nonlinear Electrostatic Excitations and Their Stability in a Nonextensive Anisotropic Magnetoplasma

In the present work, the propagation of (non)linear electrostatic waves is reported in a normal (electron–ion) magnetoplasma. The inertialess electrons follow a non-extensive q-distribution, while the positive inertial ions are assumed to be warm mobile. In the linear regime, the dispersion relation for both the fast and slow modes is derived, whose properties are analyzed parametrically, focusing on the effect of nonextensive parameter, component of parallel anisotropic ion pressure, component of perpendicular anisotropic ion pressure, and magnetic field strength. The reductive perturbation technique is employed for reducing the fluid equation of the present plasma model to a Zakharov–Kuznetsov (ZK) equation. The parametric role of physical parameters on the characteristics of the symmetry planar structures such solitary waves is investigated. Furthermore, the stability of the pulse soliton solution of the ZK equation against the oblique perturbations is investigated. Furthermore, the dependence of the instability growth rate on the related physical parameters is examined. The present investigation could be useful in space and astrophysical plasma systems.

Surface structure evolution in a homologous series of ionic liquids

Interfaces of room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) are important for both applications and basic science and are therefore intensely studied. However, the evolution of their interface structure with the cation’s alkyl chain length n from Coulomb to van der Waals interaction domination has not yet been studied for even a single broad homologous RTIL series. We present here such a study of the liquid–air interface for n=2to 22, using angstrom-resolution X-ray methods. For n<6, a typical “simple liquid” monotonic surface-normal electron density profile ρe(z) is obtained, like those of water and organic solvents. For n>6, increasingly more pronounced nanoscale self-segregation of the molecules’ charged moieties and apolar chains yields surface layering with alternating regions of headgroups and chains. The layering decays into the bulk over a few, to a few tens, of nanometers. The layering periods and decay lengths, their linear n dependence, and slopes are discussed within two models, one with partial-chain interdigitation and the other with liquid-like chains. No surface-parallel long-range order is found within the surface layer. For n=22, a different surface phase is observed above melting. Our results also impact general liquid-phase issues like supramolecular self-aggregation and bulk–surface structure relations.