Abstract
By using the hydrodynamic equations of ions, Thomas-Fermi electron/positron density distribution, and Poisson equation, a three-dimensional cylindrical Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (CKP) equation is derived for small but finite amplitude ion-acoustic waves. The generalized expansion method is used to analytically solve the CKP equation. New class of solutions admits a train of well-separated bell-shaped periodic pulses is obtained. At certain condition, the latter degenerates to solitary wave solution. The effects of physical parameters on the solitary pulse structures are examined. Furthermore, the energy integral equation is used to study the existence regions of the localized pulses. The present study might be helpful to understand the excitation of nonlinear ion-acoustic waves in a very dense astrophysical objects such as white dwarfs. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3309483]