Density jump for oblique collisionless shocks in pair plasmas: allowed solutions

Shock waves in plasma are usually dealt with using magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Yet, MHD entails the assumption of a short mean free path, which is not fulfilled in a collisionless plasma. Recently, for pair plasmas, we devised a model allowing one to account for kinetic effects within a MHD-like for...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of plasma physics 2022-12, Vol.88 (6), Article 905880615
Main Authors: Bret, Antoine, Narayan, Ramesh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anisotropy
Collisionless plasmas
Density
Formalism
Magnetic fields
Magnetohydrodynamics
Plasma
Plasma physics
Shock waves
Stability analysis
Upstream
Velocity
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Summary:Shock waves in plasma are usually dealt with using magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Yet, MHD entails the assumption of a short mean free path, which is not fulfilled in a collisionless plasma. Recently, for pair plasmas, we devised a model allowing one to account for kinetic effects within a MHD-like formalism. Its relies on an estimate of the anisotropy generated when crossing the front, with a subsequent assessment of the stability of this anisotropy in the downstream. We solved our model for parallel, perpendicular and switch-on shocks. Here we bridge between all these cases by treating the problem of an arbitrarily, but coplanar, oriented magnetic field. Even though the formalism presented is valid for anisotropic upstream temperatures, only the case of a cold upstream is solved. We find extra solutions which are not part of the MHD catalogue, and a density jump that is notably less in the quasi-parallel, highly magnetized, regime. Given the complexity of the calculations, this work is mainly devoted to the presentation of the mathematical aspect of our model. A forthcoming article will be devoted to the physics of the shocks here defined.
ISSN:0022-3778
1469-7807
DOI:10.1017/S0022377822001222