Abstract
Propagation of linear and nonlinear electron-acoustic waves (EAWs) in an unmagnetized collisionless plasma consisting of a cold electron fluid, non-thermal hot electrons and stationary ions are investigated. The standard normal-mode analysis is used to study the stability condition of linear (EAWs) waves. For nonlinear (EAWs) waves, a reductive perturbation method was employed to obtain a Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation for the first-order potential. The effects of a non-thermal distribution of hot electrons on the amplitude, width and energy of electrostatic solitary structures are also discussed.