Self-organization of collisionless shocks: a 'phase transition' from a planar stationary profile to a rippled structure

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Abstract

It is common wisdom that collisionless shocks become non-planar and non-stationary at sufficiently high Mach numbers. Whatever the shock structure, the upstream and downstream fluxes of the mass, momentum and energy should be equal. At low Mach numbers, these conservation laws are satisfied when the shock front is planar and stationary. When this becomes impossible, inhomogeneity and time dependence, presumably in the form of rippling, develop. In this study, we show that the shock structure changes as a kind of 'phase transition' when the Mach number is increased while other shock parameters are kept constant.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberE6
JournalJournal of Plasma Physics
Volume91
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 3 Jan 2025

Keywords

  • shock waves - acceleration of particles

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Condensed Matter Physics

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