SHOCK EMERGENCE IN SUPERNOVAE: LIMITING CASES AND ACCURATE APPROXIMATIONS

Journal Article · Sat Aug 10 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/773/1/79· OSTI ID:22131023

Ro, Stephen; Matzner, Christopher D. ^[1]

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1. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada)

We examine the dynamics of accelerating normal shocks in stratified planar atmospheres, providing accurate fitting formulae for the scaling index relating shock velocity to the initial density and for the post-shock acceleration factor as functions of the polytropic and adiabatic indices which parameterize the problem. In the limit of a uniform initial atmosphere, there are analytical formulae for these quantities. In the opposite limit of a very steep density gradient, the solutions match the outcome of shock acceleration in exponential atmospheres.

• OSTI ID: 22131023
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 773, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
APPROXIMATIONS
DENSITY
MATHEMATICAL SOLUTIONS
SCALING
SHOCK WAVES
SUPERNOVAE
VELOCITY