Collisionless hydrodynamic shocks in multifluid plasmas. 1. Parallel shocks

Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1991 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/91JA01811· OSTI ID:5812993

Buergi, A ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Bern (Switzerland)

The macrophysics of a single-fluid plasma at a hydrodynamic shock is characterized completely by the three Rankine-Hugoniot conditions expressing conservation of particles, momentum flux, and energy flux across the shock. In a multifluid plasma containing an arbitrary number of ion species and electrons the rankine-Hugoniot conditions still characterize the behavior of the bulk plasma but not the properties of individual fluid constituents. Conservation laws for individual particle species are derived for parallel collisionless shocks. The shocks are assumed to be nonturbulent; i.e., the particles interact only via the electrostatic field. Given the plasma parameters upstream, the downstream solutions form a single-parameter family; the free parameter can be taken to be the electrostatic potential jump across the shock.

• OSTI ID: 5812993
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States) Vol. 96:A10; ISSN 0148-0227; ISSN JGREA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

661320* -- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magnetospheric Phenomena-- (1992-)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COLLISIONLESS PLASMA
COMETS
CONSERVATION LAWS
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
ELECTRONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EQUATIONS
FERMIONS
FLUID FLOW
INTERACTIONS
INTERPLANETARY SPACE
IONIC COMPOSITION
LEPTONS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PLANETS
PLASMA
PLASMA DENSITY
RANKINE-HUGONIOT EQUATIONS
SHOCK WAVES
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOLAR WIND
SPACE
SUPERSONIC FLOW