On the three-dimensional configuration of electrostatic solitary waves

International audienceThe simplest models of the electrostatic solitary waves observed by the Geotail spacecraft in the magnetosphere are developed proceeding from the concept of electron phase space holes. The technique to construct the models is based on an approximate quasi-one-dimensional description of the electron dynamics and three-dimensional analysis of the electrostatic structure of the localized wave perturbations. It is shown that the Vlasov-Poisson set of equations admits a wide diversity of model solutions of different geometry, including spatial configurations of the electrostatic potential similar to those revealed by Geotail and other spacecraft in space plasmas