Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 June 2013
The properties of nonlinear electrostatic acoustic rogue waves in a three-component plasma composed of electron, positron, and relativistic electron beam are investigated. The reductive perturbation method is used to obtain a Korteweg–de Vries equation. The dynamics of the modulationally unstable wave packets described by the Korteweg–de Vries equation gives rise to the formation of rogue pulses that is described by a nonlinear Schrödinger equation for small wave number. The effects of physical parameters on the profile of rogue waves are investigated numerically. The electrostatic rogue waves, as predicted here, may be associated with the nonlinear structures caused by the interaction of relativistic jets with plasma medium, such as in the active galactic nuclei and in the magnetosphere of collapsing stars.