On the theory of Langmuir solitons

Abstract

We find a Lagrangian density from which the equations of motion for the Lang-muir solitons follow in the usual way. We show how this Lagrangian leads to the usual conservation laws. For the one-dimensional case we discuss how a consideration of these conservation laws can help us to understand some of the results obtained in numerical experiments on the behaviour of a strongly turbulent plasma. We point out that the situation in the three-dimensional case may be fundamentally different, and we discuss near-sonic perturbations and Karpman's treatment of these.