It is perhaps surprising for a shock wave to exist in the solution of a rarefaction Riemann problem for the compressible Euler equations in two space dimensions. We present numerical evidence and generalized characteristic analysis to establish the existence of a shock wave in such a 2D Riemann problem, defined by the interaction of four rarefaction waves. We consider both the customary configu...

Massive stars can significantly modify the surrounding medium during their lifetime. When the stars explode as supernovae, the resulting shock wave expands within this modified medium and not within the interstellar medium. We explore the evolution of the medium around massive stars, and the expansion of the shock wave within this medium. We then apply these results to understanding the expansi...

It is shown that collisionless shock waves can be driven in unmagnetized electron-positron plasmas by performing a two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. At the shock transition region, strong magnetic fields are generated by a Weibel-like instability. The generated magnetic fields are strong enough to deflect the incoming particles from upstream of the shock at a large angle and provide ...

We model strong shock-wave propagation, both in the ideal gas and in the dense Lennard-Jones fluid, using a refinement of earlier work, which accounts for the cold compression in the early stages of the shock rise by a nonlinear, Burnett-like, strain-rate dependence of the thermal conductivity, and relaxation of kinetic-temperature components on the hot, compressed side of the shock front. The ...

Structure formation and wave phenomena in moderately coupled dusty plasmas." PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) thesis, ABSTRACT Dusty plasmas, defined as plasmas of ions, electrons, neutrals, and charged micron to sub-micron dust particles, support a rich diversity of physical states. These states (ranging from solids to liquids to gas) are determined by the ratio of the Coulomb potential energy betwe...

An approximate, semi-analytical method to compute the net effect of the passage of a planar shock through a steady compressible vortex is developed. To compute the approximate post-shock fields, the steady pre-shock vortex is decomposed into a sum of frozen sinusoidal modes, the shock wave is treated as an instantaneous event (an ansatz most suited to weak shocks), and the interaction of each f...

Two optical techniques are experimentally investigated to measure the shock wave velocity and particle velocity in metals subjected to hyper velocity impacts. Fabry-Perot interferometer based optical system has been developed and used to measure the interface velocity profile of impacted Tantalum-Glass and Aluminum-Glass targets. Optical fibers coupled to fast photodiodes are implemented to mea...