Relativistic Shock Structure

The equations for a relativistic fluid with viscous and thermal dissipation are discussed and are applied to a plane shock wave in ionized hydrogen. It is shown that if the shock velocity is greater than a critical value ($\frac{v}{c}>\surd \frac{2}{3}$ at low temperatures), the shock profiles show an increase in velocity or a decrease in the heat-transfer parameter $\gamma T$ at the upstream end of the shock layer. This qualitative change from the nonrelativistic case is due to the relativistic interaction of heat transfer and momentum transfer.