New nonlinear structures in a degenerate one-dimensional electron gas

¹ Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Calcutta - 92, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata-700 009, India
² Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics - 1/AF Bidhannagar, Calcutta-700 064, India
³ Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Paraná - 81531 990, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

Received: 16 December 2013
Accepted: 27 January 2014

Abstract

The collective dynamics of nonlinear electron waves in an one-dimensional degenerate electron gas is treated using the Lagrangian fluid approach. A new class of solutions with a nontrivial space and time dependence is derived. Both analytical and numerical results demonstrate the formation of stable, breather-like modes, provided certain conditions are met. For large amplitudes of the initial density perturbation, a catastrophic collapse of the plasma density is predicted, even in the presence of the quantum statistical pressure and quantum diffraction dispersive effects. The results are useful for the understanding of the properties of general nonlinear structures in dense plasmas.