| Abstract: | The shock-wave structure in an isotropic plasma is studied in the scale of the Debye shielding radius. The boundary condition
at “infinity” is due to the dissipation mechanism of ions reflected from the ion wavefront. The case of the absence of dissipation
corresponds to a collisionless shock wave. It is known that there is a critical Mach number above which the laminar shock
wave is impossible. In addition, two types of boundary conditions which occur if collisions in an equilibrium high- and low-ionized
plasma are taken into account are considered. The reflected ions are assumed to be scattered by electrons in the first case,
and the momentum of the reflected ions is assumed to be transferred to uncharged particles in the second case. The critical
Mach number of a shock wave does not exist under the conditions of collision dissipation of a flux of reflected ions.
St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 198904. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol.
39, No. 3, pp. 14–21, May–June, 1998. |
