Shock wave propagation and admissibility criteria in a nonlinear dielectric medium

We study the propagation of electromagnetic shock waves in an isotropic nonlinear dielectric medium. In order to select the physical shocks among all the mathematical solutions the usualLax conditions are applied. However, here they do not appear sufficient since strong shocks are present and the differential system is not strictly hyperbolic. So, two additional criteria are studied, theentropy growth condition and thereflection and transmission criterion, and a comparative analysis is developed. Finally, some experimental checks are suggested considering in particular the possible shape changes of an initial shock wave during its propagation.