Structure of relativistic shock waves in simple gases

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Abstract
Numerical solutions of the exact relativistic nonlinear Boltzmann equation have been obtained which describe the structure of relativistic shock transitions in dilute one‐component simple gases. When the speed of the shock wave is near the speed of light, the calculated velocity profiles, as viewed in the rest frame of the shock wave, are similar to the velocity profiles of weak nonrelativistic shock waves. Starting from this observation an analytic theory for the velocity profile is derived which is accurate for all relativistic energies and may be used to study relativistic shock waves in nonideal fluids where the Boltzmann equation is not valid.