dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaOscillatory disintegration of a trans-Alfvenic shock: A magnetohydrodynamic simulation
| Authors | S. A. Markovskii, S. L. Skorokhodov |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/9904011 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9904011 |
| DOI | 10.1063/1.873790 |
Abstract
Nonlinear evolution of a trans-Alfvenic shock wave (TASW), at which the flow velocity passes over the Alfven velocity, is computed in a magnetohydrodynamic approximation. The analytical theory suggests that an infinitesimal perturbation of a TASW results in its disintegration, i.e., finite variation of the flow, or transformation into some other unsteady configuration. In the present paper, this result is confirmed by numerical simulations. It is shown that the disintegration time is close to its minimum value equal to the shock thickness divided by a relative velocity of the emerging secondary structures. The secondary TASW that appears after the disintegration is again unstable with respect to disintegration. When the perturbation has a cyclic nature, the TASW undergoes oscillatory disintegration, during which it repeatedly transforms into another TASW. This process manifests itself as a train of shock and rarefaction waves, which consecutively emerge at one edge of the train and merge at the other edge.
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"abstract": "Nonlinear evolution of a trans-Alfvenic shock wave (TASW), at which the flow\nvelocity passes over the Alfven velocity, is computed in a magnetohydrodynamic\napproximation. The analytical theory suggests that an infinitesimal\nperturbation of a TASW results in its disintegration, i.e., finite variation of\nthe flow, or transformation into some other unsteady configuration. In the\npresent paper, this result is confirmed by numerical simulations. It is shown\nthat the disintegration time is close to its minimum value equal to the shock\nthickness divided by a relative velocity of the emerging secondary structures.\nThe secondary TASW that appears after the disintegration is again unstable with\nrespect to disintegration. When the perturbation has a cyclic nature, the TASW\nundergoes oscillatory disintegration, during which it repeatedly transforms\ninto another TASW. This process manifests itself as a train of shock and\nrarefaction waves, which consecutively emerge at one edge of the train and\nmerge at the other edge.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/9904011",
"authors": [
"S. A. Markovskii",
"S. L. Skorokhodov"
],
"categories": [
"physics.plasm-ph",
"physics.space-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1063/1.873790",
"title": "Oscillatory disintegration of a trans-Alfvenic shock: A magnetohydrodynamic simulation",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9904011"
},
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