A model for shock waves in solids and evidence for a thermal catastrophe

Shock-wave experiments and computer simulations yield a linear relation between shock velocity and particle velocity. We show that a Mie-Grüneisen equation of state combined with the Hugoniot relations matches the computer results and the experiments and leads to an explanation of the generality of the linear velocity dependence. At high shock velocities the onset of a thermal catastrophe, which results in a maximum shock compression, is predicted from our model.