Coupled Nonlinear Schrödinger (CNLS) Equations for two interacting electrostatic wavepackets in a non-Maxwellian fluid plasma model

Abstract: The nonlinear dynamics of two co-propagating electrostatic wavepackets, characterized by different wavenumbers and amplitudes, in a 1D non-magnetized plasma fluid model is considered, from first principles. The original plasma model, consisting of \kappa-distributed electrons evolving against a cold ion background, is reduced, by means of a multiple-scale perturbation method to a pair of asymmetric coupled nonlinear Schr\"odinger (CNLS) equations for the dynamics of the wavepacket envelopes. Exact analytical expressions are derived for the dispersion, self-modulation, and cross-modulation coefficients involved in the CNLS equations, as functions of the wavenumbers and the spectral index \kappa characterizing the electron profile. An analytical investigation of the modulational instability (MI) properties of this pair of wavepackets reveals that MI occurs in most parts of the parameter space. The instability windows and the corresponding growth rate are calculated in a number of case studies. Two-wave interaction favors MI by extending its range of occurrence and by enhancing its growth rate. Growth rate patterns obtained for different \kappa suggest that deviation from Maxwellian equilibrium, for low \kappa values, leads to enhanced MI of the interacting wave pair. To the best of our knowledge, the dynamics of two co-propagating wavepackets in a plasma described by a fluid model with \kappa-distributed electrons is investigated thoroughly with respect to their MI properties as a function of \kappa for the first time, in the framework of an asymmetric CNLS system. Although we have focused on electrostatic wavepacket propagation in non-Maxwellian plasma, the results are generic and may be used as basis to model energy localization in nonlinear optics, in hydrodynamics or in dispersive media with Kerr-type nonlinearities where MI is relevant.