Simulations of the Wardle instability of C-type shock waves

Details Simulations of the Wardle instability of C-type shock waves Simulations of the Wardle instability of C-type shock waves

Jun 1995

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995mnras.274.1002t&link_type=abstract

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 274, Issue 4, pp. 1002-1018.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

15

Instabilities, Mhd, Shock Waves, Methods: Numerical, Ism: General

Scientific paper

C-type shocks in the partially ionized interstellar medium (ISM) are modelled by numerical simulations. Under certain conditions the shocks are subject to the Wardle instability, which initially makes the shock front rippled, and then, in the non-linear stage, can produce density enhancements in both the ion and neutral fluids. A systematic search in the numerically accessible parameter space is carried out to determine the wave vector k_max and the growth rate s_max of the fastest growing modes. The neutral Alfven number, A^(n)=v_s/v^(n)A, where v_s is the shock speed and v^(n)A is the Alfven speed in the limit of strong coupling between the two fluids, and the angle theta_s between the shock normal and the upstream magnetic field determine the strength and obliqueness of the shock, as well as the dimensionless parameters of the fastest growing mode. The results confirm and extend Wardle's linear analysis. The non-linear evolution shows saturation of the instability and the formation of regions with enhanced density that detach from the shock front with the downstream flow. Numerical difficulties are partially solved by an implicit treatment of the ion-neutral friction terms, but strong shocks still cannot be modelled efficiently. A fully implicit method for the ions and the magnetic field is used to model C-type shocks with low fractional ionization and high ion Alfven speed.

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