Unsteady propagation of collisionless trans-Alfvénic shocks at large timescales

Details Unsteady propagation of collisionless trans-Alfvénic shocks at large timescales Unsteady propagation of collisionless trans-Alfvénic shocks at large timescales

Apr 1999

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999georl..26..979m&link_type=abstract

Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 26, Issue 7, p. 979-982

Physics

Plasma Physics

4

Space Plasma Physics: Shock Waves, Interplanetary Physics: Planetary Bow Shocks, Space Plasma Physics: Kinetic And Mhd Theory, Interplanetary Physics: Solar Wind Plasma

Scientific paper

In a collisional plasma, fast and slow shocks are time stationary. They evolve in such a way that the flow variations remain small under the action of a small perturbation. By contrast, in the case of a trans-Alfvénic shock wave (TASW), at which the flow velocity passes over the Alfvé velocity, the small perturbation generates finite variation of the initial flow. As a result, the shock disintegrates or transforms into some other unsteady state. In the present paper, the problem of shock propagation is considered for a collisionless plasma with anisotropic pressure. Using a kinetic theory, it is shown that the transition of the flow velocity over the Alfvén velocity at a shock is crucial for its evolution. Namely, the small perturbation makes collisionless TASWs unsteady at timescales large enough compared to the ion gyroperiod. This conclusion is valid for both ordinary TASWs at which the Alfvén Mach number decreases and anomalous TASWs at which it increases. Possible manifestations of unsteady propagation of planetary bow shocks are discussed.

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