Derivation and well-posedness for asymptotic models of cold plasmas

Abstract

In this paper we derive three new asymptotic models for a hyperbolic–hyperbolic–elliptic system of PDEs describing the motion of a collision-free plasma in a magnetic field. The first of these models takes the form of a non-linear and non-local Boussinesq system (for the ionic density and velocity) while the second is a non-local wave equation (for the ionic density). Moreover, we derive a unidirectional asymptotic model of the latter which is closely related to the well-known Fornberg–Whitham equation. We also provide the well-posedness of these asymptotic models in Sobolev spaces. To conclude, we demonstrate the existence of a class of initial data which exhibit wave breaking for the unidirectional model.