Experiments on ion-acoustic solitons in plasmas

Experiments on ion-acoustic solitons are reviewed. Theories and numerical simulations which are relevant to experimental results are also presented. The measured velocity and width of planar solitons are compared with the predictions of the Korteweg-deVries (KdV) equation which includes a finite ion temperature. The spatial evolution of compressive or rarefactive pulses is discussed. Cylindrical and spherical solitons are introduced together with a modified KdV equation and numerical results. Oblique collisions and their evolution, including overtaking and head-on collisions of two planar, cylindrical, or spherical solitons are described. Reflection, diffraction, and other topics related with ion-acoustic solitons are presented.