Multiple transonic solutions and a new class of shock transitions in solar and stellar winds

Technical Report · Tue Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6533706

Habbal, S R; Tsinganos, K; Rosner, R

The steady isothermal solar wind equations are shown to admit, under certain circumstances, mutliple transonic solutions when, for example, momentum deposition gives rise to muliple critical points in the flow. These multiple solutions consist of a continuous solution and solutions which involve shock transitions between critical solutions. The ambiguity arising from the multiplicity of the solutions can be resolved by following the time evolution of a wind profile with one critical point. Results of the numerical integration of the time-dependent equations with momentum addition show that each of these multiple solutions is physically accessible and depends on the rate of change of momentum deposition. These results suggest that standing shocks are likely to be present in the inner solar wind flow.

• Research Organization: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6533706
• Report Number(s): N-84-13083
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640104* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Solar Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS OF MOTION
FLUID FLOW
ISOTHERMAL PROCESSES
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
SHOCK WAVES
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOLAR WIND
STELLAR WINDS
TIME DEPENDENCE
TRANSONIC FLOW