Collisionless shock waves in a plasma in a weak magnetic field
- 1 January 1963
- journal article
- Published by IOP Publishing in Journal of Nuclear Energy. Part C, Plasma Physics, Accelerators, Thermonuclear Research
- Vol. 5 (1) , 43-47
- https://doi.org/10.1088/0368-3281/5/1/309
Abstract
The relationship is investigated between laminar and turbulent theories of the structure of a collisionless shock wave. For pe pi, where pi, pe are the ion and electron pressures, a laminar structure of the shock wave may be constructed in terms of the `solitary' wave with thickness of the order of the Debye length. When pi pe the principal part within the shock front is played by scattering of ions by small-scale field fluctuations which result from anisotropic instability. The thickness of the front is in order of magnitude Δ ~ (c/Ω0)(mi/me)(1/(M-1)2) (M - 1 < 1), where c is the velocity of light, Ω0 = 4πne2/mi, mi, me are the ion and electron masses, and M is the Mach number.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Concerning Certain Collisionless Plasma-Shock Wave Models.The Astrophysical Journal, 1961
- Suprathermal Particles. III. ElectronsPhysical Review B, 1958
- Collision of Two Highly Ionized Clouds of GasReviews of Modern Physics, 1958